Optimization Of An Axial Catalyst Profile In Methane Dry Reformer: Suppression Of Coke Formation

Methane dry reforming is a promising greenhouse gas reduction technology that can obtain CO and H-2, which are high value-added materials utilizing CO2 and CH4. However, there is a significant coking problem during the operation of the dry reforming reactor. Because methane dry reforming is a strong endothermic reaction, the temperature of the reactor drops near the reactor inlet and causes coke formation. To solve this problem, it is important to ensure that the reaction takes place in a temperature range where coke production is minimized. In this study, we proposed a design method that can maintain the reaction temperature in the region where the coke is rarely generated using new configurations of packed catalysts. It was experimentally confirmed that a new catalyst configuration method could be used to obtain the desired temperature profile in the reactor to inhibit coke formation. The design method also optimizes the reactor by solving the optimization problem, which minimizes the reactor length for a given reaction conversion using the fuel flow rate, catalyst density, and output temperature by layer as optimization variables. The proposed design method was shown to be effective in inhibiting coking experimentally and numerically. The same production rate was achieved with a much smaller amount of catalysts compared with a typical dry reformer. The proposed processes were also shown to maintain stable operation for large disturbances in the feed flow rate.