A hydrogen-selective membrane reactor application natural gas steam reforming

3 A hydrogen-selective membrane reactor application natural gas steam reforming 

Among chemical processes, hydrogen production processes are the most interesting for membrane reactor application for two main reasons  

Hydrogen production reactions are typically endothermic and limited by thermodynamic equilibrium conditions. The integration of a selective membrane would allow the thermodynamics thresholds to be overcome, since equilibrium conditions would never be achieved. Hydrogen-selective membranes are well-known and many research groups and industries have tested them for many years (BasUe et al., 2005 Chen et al., 2010 De Falco et /., 2011c Kikuchi, 1995 Mendes et al, 2010). Among hydrogen-selective membranes, the dense membranes, particularly Pd-based ones, are the most characterized and tested, as a wide scientific literature attests. 

The process assessed in this section, in order to illustrate to the readers an IMR modelling case study, is the natural gas steam reforming process, being the most applied process in producing hydrogen industrially. 

Among many methods, MSR is the main process used for producing a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide (synthesis gas) and, currently, it contributes about 50% of the world s hydrogen production (Armor, 1999 Scholz,1993). 

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