Simulation and experimental analysis on the development of a co-axial cylindrical methane steam reformer using an electrically heated alumite catalyst

A cylindrical methane steam reformer using electrically heated alumite catalyst (EHAC), i.e. Ni/Al2O3/Alloy catalyst, was used in this work. A relevant 2D dynamic model was developed to reveal the key factors for improving the reformer's performance with respect to heat and mass transfer. External (heated by an outside heat resource) and internal (electrified through the EHAC itself) heating models are proposed. The results show that the internal heat-up method increased the overall heat transfer coefficient, which resulted in a better transverse gas temperature distribution, a shorter start-up time and a higher reaction performance than for the external heating. Meanwhile, staggered catalyst layers and an incremental heat input rate were proven to be efficient strategies for further improving the reaction performance with the internal heating. Based on the simulation results, a co-axial reformer was developed and operated for 80 h with internal heating, and it showed good activity stability.