Fixed bed membrane reactor for hydrogen production from steam methane reforming: Experimental and modeling approach

•A fixed bed membrane reactor, placed in the Laboratory of Micro-Cogeneration (LMC) of Politecnico di Milano, was studied.•The performances of a membrane reactor were investigated in terms of methane conversion and hydrogen recovery factor.•A finite volumes 1D model of a fixed bed membrane reactor was solved in Matlab.•Experimental results was used to validate the mathematical model.

This work describes the results from experimental tests on the membrane reactor in terms of hydrogen recovery factor and fuel conversion at different operating conditions. A test bench for a fixed bed membrane reactor, placed in the Laboratory of Micro-Cogeneration (LMC) of Politecnico di Milano, is designed to operate in a wide range of operating conditions: the maximum temperature and pressure are respectively 923 K and 700 kPa. An hydrogen permeability value of 5.16·10−11 mol/(msPa0.71) at 723 K have been determined. The best operating conditions (873 K, 500 kPa) allow to reach a methane conversion of 47.4% and an hydrogen recovery factor of 28.1%. Results are used to validate a one-dimensional finite volume model of the overall membrane reactor, solved in Matlab®.