Low temperature catalytic reforming of heptane to hydrogen and syngas

The production of hydrogen and syngas from heptane at a low temperature is studied in a circulating fast fluidized bed membrane reactor (CFFBMR). A thin film of palladium-based membrane is employed to the displacement of the thermodynamic equilibrium for high conversion and yield. A mathematical model is developed to simulate the reformer. A substantial improvement of the CFFBMR is achieved by implementing the thin hydrogen membrane. The results showed that almost complete conversion of heptane and 46.25% increase of exit hydrogen yield over the value without membrane are achieved. Also a wide range of the H2/CO ratio within the recommended industrial range is obtained. The phenomena of high spikes of maximum nature at the beginning of the CFFBMR are observed and explanation offered. The sensitivity analysis results have shown that the increase of the steam to carbon feed ratio can increase the exit hydrogen yield up to 108.29%. It was found that the increase of reaction side pressure at a high steam to carbon feed ratio can increase further the exit hydrogen yield by 49.36% at a shorter reactor length. Moreover, the increase of reaction side pressure has an important impact in a significant decrease of the carbon dioxide and this is a positive sign for clean environment.