METHANE STEAM REFORMING ANALYSIS IN A PALLADIUM-BASED CATALYTIC MEMBRANE REACTOR

The methane steam reforming in a catalytic membrane reactor has been s tudied. A previous theoretical study of this reaction has been carried out. In the model a global kinetic rate as function of three reaction s over nickel catalyst as proposed by Xu and Froment (AIChE J. 1989, 3 5 (1), 88-96, 97-103) has been considered. It has been shown that the counterflow configuration has, at high temperature (500 degrees C), a marginal advantage on parallel flow and, also, that the space velocity cannot be considered a design variable for membrane reactors. A labor atory plant was realized utilizing membranes of Pd and Pd/Ag supported on Al2O3. The Pd membranes utilized have been prepared using the co-c ondensation technique and the electroless plating method. A comparison of the overall membrane performance has also been carried out. The ex periments were aimed to study the effects of several parameters such a s temperature, feed flow rate, and feed molar ratio on the methane con version. The experimental results have been compared with the data pre dicted by the previously developed theoretical model.