Compact Reformer CFD Modeling for Hydrogen Production from Natural Gas

Hydrogen production for use in automobiles has great attention for reducing the air pollution of the large cities. Therefore, hydrogen needs to be produced in a compact reformer near the hydrogen fuel station. Using steam reforming of natural gas (methane) for hydrogen production that mainly containsmethane need heat because of the endothermic nature of methane steam reforming (MSR) reaction and this heat can be provided using natural combustion. CFD models for compact reformers were developed for heat integration of combustion and MSR for hydrogen stations in novel configurations to increase thermal efficiency. In this review, recent progress in the CFD modeling of methane steam reforming (MSR) in compact reformers were summarized. Different configurations for compact reformers were analyzed with CFD modeling to enhance the performance of the reformers in the viewpoint of hydrogen yield and energy efficiency. These novel geometry and heat integration ideas were discussed briefly in this research

Keywords:

Compact Steam Reformer , Hydrogen Production , Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) , Natural Gas , Methane Steam Reforming (MSR).