Effect of Co-products on Pd Membrane Performance in Membrane Reforming of Desulfurized Kerosene

Abstract

Hydrogen production using a Pd membrane reformer from desulfurized kerosene is attractive in view of the portable and domestic use of fuel cells. In the present study, membrane reforming of desulfurized kerosene with a pre-reformer was carried out and compared to that of dodecane, which is the main compound in kerosene. The reactivity of desulfurized kerosene was much lower than that of dodecane, resulting in the low performance of the membrane reformer for desulfurized kerosene. In the pre-reforming and membrane reforming of model kerosene (a mixture of dodecane and m-xylene), the performance of the pre-reformer and membrane reformer exhibited a similar trend to those for desulfurized kerosene. This low performance of the membrane reformer may be ascribed to the lowering of Pd membrane performance. From the evaluation of Pd membrane performance in the presence of co-products in the pre-reforming of desulfurized kerosene and model kerosene, polycyclic aromatics such as naphthalenes, anthracene and pyrene reduced the H₂ permeability of Pd membranes.