Ethanol Processor Design for Hydrogen Production. Kinetic Analysis and Process Integration

Abstract

A kinetic study of ethanol steam reforming was conducted with a commercial nickel-based catalyst. The reaction was studied at atmospheric pressure, with temperatures varying from 550 to 650 °C and residence times up to 25 h·g/Nm3. From the analysis of the product distribution, a scheme of reactions was proposed and used to simulate a pseudohomogeneous reactor and to fit the kinetic parameters. Results showed good fitting with the measured data. The kinetic expressions were profited toward the design of an integrated process of H2 production from ethanol, which includes a parallel-plate reactor, a shell-and-tube membrane unit, and auxiliary units. Results showed satisfactory thermal integration with efficiencies from 43 to 47% based on lower heating values and from 52 to 57% based on higher heating values. For three different simulation scenarios, outlet streams of about 10 molH2 /h were obtained. The proposed scheme showed robustness, accepting significant variations in the set conditions and still maintaining the process operability.