Design of an ion transport membrane reactor for application in fire tube boilers

A design of an ITM (ion transport membranes) reactor is introduced in a two-pass fire tube boiler furnace to produce steam for power generation toward the ZEPP (zero emission power plant) applications. Oxygen separation, combustion and heat exchange occur in the first pass containing the multiple-units ITM reactor. In the second pass, heat exchange between the combustion gases and the surrounding water at 485 K (Psat = 20 bar) occurs mainly by convection. The emphasis is to extract sufficient oxygen for combustion while maintaining the reactor size as compact as possible. Based on a required power in the range of 5-8 MWe, the fuel and gases flow rates were calculated. Accordingly, the channel width was determined to maximize oxygen permeation flux and keep the viscous pressure drop within a safe range for fixed reactor length of 1.8 m. Three-dimensional simulations were conducted for both counter and co-current flow configurations. Counter-current flow configuration proved its suitability in fire tube boilers for steam generation over the co-current flow configuration. The resultant reactor consists of 12,500 ITM units with a height of 5 m, membrane surface area of 2700 m2 and a total volume of 45.45 m3.