A Flow-through catalytic membrane micro-reactor for hydrogen production
by methanol steam reforming
Abstract
A flow-through catalytic membrane micro-reactor (CMR) with Cu/ZnO/Al2O3
nanoparticles immobilized in porous membrane pores has been developed
for hydrogen production by methanol steam reforming (MSR). The
characteristics for CMR demonstrated Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 nanoparticles with
almost 200 nm were successfully in situ immobilized in membrane pores.
During MSR for hydrogen production in CMR by flow-through mode, hydrogen
yield of 500 mmol h-1 g-1 cat. and selectivity of 100% can be achieved
under the condition of temperature being 360℃, molar ratio of water to
methanol of 8.8 and weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) of 9.28 h-1.
Compared with the commercial fixed bed reactor, the hydrogen
productivity in CMR is one order of magnitude higher, owing to MSR
confined in the space of membrane pore with micro-scale. The methanol
conversion rate of over 95% can be expected, if five sheets of CMR with
thickness of 5 mm was assembly in series.