Parametric study of microreactor design for water gas shift reactor using an integrated reaction and heat exchange model

This paper discusses the development of an integrated reaction and heat exchange approach to microreactor design that enhances reaction yields by allowing the reactant stream to follow optimal reactant temperature profiles. The paper details the formulation of both one-dimensional (1-D) and two-dimensional (2-D) models for the integrated reaction and heat exchange reactor design, and applies these models to a parametric study of microreactor designs for the water gas shift (WGS) reaction. The parametric study investigated the sensitivities of design parameters for both the parallel flow and counter flow configurations of the integrated reaction and heat exchange design. Results from the study are presented and discussed, and the preferred operating ranges of the parameters are identified for both configurations. A key finding of this study is the identification of the marked extension of the range of permissible wall thermal conductivities for high conversion efficiencies (greater than 85%) that is achieved by the counter flow integrated reactor configuration, thereby enabling the fabrication of microreactor components in conventional engineering materials. In addition, the integrated microreactor approach achieved higher catalyst utilization noted by a marked reduction in catalyst amount (of the order of 50%) when compared to a conventional adiabatic microreactor operating at the same level of conversion efficiency.