Autothermic Reforming of Hydrocarbon bySuper-Adiabatic Combustion in Porous Media

Abstract

An experimental study on autothermic reforming in a porous catalyst has been performed. In the system, a mixture of methane or methanol, steam and air is introduced into the porous catalysts, where the flow direction reverses regularly. By the reciprocating-flow system, the product gas enthalpy is effectively regenerated into an enthalpy increase in the mixture through the porous media, which provides heat storage. A part of fuel is oxidized by air and the residual part is effectively converted into hydrogen. The endothermic reaction heat for the production of hydrogen is supplied directly from the exothermicity released by combustion.