Dry reforming of methane using Pd-based membrane reactors fabricated from different substrates

In this study, performance and feasibility of a hollow fibre membrane reactor (HFMR), consisting of a packed catalyst bed around a Pd coated Al2O3 hollow fibre membrane, has been studied and compared with both conventional Pd based tubular membrane reactor (TMR) fabricated from a stainless steel substrate and traditional fixed-bed reactor (FBR). The ceramic based HFMR presents several advantages over MRs such as the deposition of ultra thin Pd membranes and the possibility to scale up the whole multifunctional process by module configuration. The results obtained at 450 °C during the methane dry reforming (MDR) reaction showed that, although CH4 conversion using the HFMR was almost the same as that of a catalytic TMR, the amount of Pd employed for the Pd layer deposition in the HFMR was fifteen times less than that in TMR. Moreover, the CH4 conversion using the HFMR was 72% higher than that in a traditional FBR and 34% higher than thermodynamic equilibrium. Also, a high purity COX-free H2 production (10.5 ml/mg h) was achieved at 525 °C using a sweep gas of 100 ml/min in the lumen side of the HFMR.

► A new hollow fibre membrane reactor (HFMR) has been developed.
► The HFMR combines the processes of generating and separating H2 in a single step.
► Its performance was compared with that in a tubular membrane and fixed-bed reactors.
► The low-cost HFMR allows a possible large-scale COX free H2 production.