A CFD Model of Autothermal Reforming
Abstract
A numerical model based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was developed and validated to simulate the performance of a catalytic monolith reformer for the production of hydrogen that could be used in fuel cell systems. The whole reactor was modeled as porous media for the process of autothermal reforming with n-hexadecane feed. CFD results provided an adequate match to experimental data from literature with respect to temperature and the mole fractions of H2, CO2 and CO products. The percentage difference between each experimental measurement of the mole fraction of hydrogen and the corresponding CFD prediction was less than 16.8%. It was found that the thermal conductivity of the solid catalyst substrate affected the temperature profile in the reactor, but its effect on product hydrogen concentration was negligible. The calculated reforming efficiency based on hydrogen decreased by 11.8% as power input was increased from 1.7 to 8.4 kW.
Recommended Citation
L. Shi et al., "A CFD Model of Autothermal Reforming," International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 34, no. 18, pp. 7666 - 7675, International Association for Hydrogen Energy, Sep 2009.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2009.07.039
Department(s)
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Keywords and Phrases
Autothermal Reforming; CFD Model; Diesel; Hydrogen; Power; Thermal Conductivity
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
0360-3199
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2009 Professor T. Nejat Veziroglu, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Sep 2009
