Intensification of steam reforming of natural gas: Choosing combustible fuel and reforming catalyst

The steam reforming of methane in a parallel plate microreactor, consisting of alternating channels carrying out catalytic combustion and reforming on opposite sides of a wall, is modeled with fundamental kinetics and a pseudo-2D reactor model. It is shown that at high fuel conversions, the choice of hydrocarbon combustible fuel is immaterial when suitable compositions are used so that the energy input is kept the same. On the other hand, direct comparison of Rh and Ni indicates that the choice of reforming catalyst is critical. Speed up of heat transfer via miniaturization is insufficient for process intensification; catalyst-intensification is also needed to avoid hot spots and enable compact devices for portable and distributed power generation.