Reformer plate type

Dynamic Simulation of Plate-Type Reformer and Combustor System for Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell... 

C. Fukuhara, H. Ohkura, Y. Kamata, Y. Murakami, A. Igarashi, Catalytic properties of plate-type copper-based catalysts, for steam reforming of methanol, on an aluminum plate prepared by electroless plating, Appl. Catal. A-Gen. 273 (2004) 125. 

Wieland et al. [113] combined different membranes with a fixed catalyst bed for methanol steam reforming in a plate-type reactor. Figure 14.13 shows the conversion determined in the MR with different membranes. It is compared to the thermodynamic equilibrium conversion and the conversion achieved in a fixed catalyst bed without membrane. The conversion was higher for the MRs and exceeded the thermodynamic equilibrium of the feed at more than 20 bar pressure. The space velocity, at which the fixed catalyst bed was operated, was rather low. The same authors also performed numerical calculations to enlighten the effect of lower membrane thickness on the performance of their reactor. 

Schuessler et al. [398] used sintering of copper and alurninium powder to form microstructured plates for their integrated autothermal methanol reformer (see Section 9.1). The powders were compressed before sintering at a pressure of 1000 bar, which provided plate-type elements for assembly. The sintering of the copper was then performed at temperatures between 500 and 700 °C, which bonded the plates to a stack-hke reactor. 

The catalyst-coated microchannel reactor and the plate-type reactor seem to be more attractive than the micropacked bed reactor due to low pressure drop and less channeling of gas, although it possess low catalyst loading that may affect the performance and durability of the system. The methanol steam-reforming reactions... 

Kolb et al. [52] applied small externally heated sandwich-type reactors for catalyst screening for propane steam reforming. Two plates of 2 mm thickness were attached to each other and bonded by laser welding. The reactors where 41 mm long and 10 mm wide carrying 14 channels each, which were 25 mm long, 500 pm wide and 250 pm deep on each plate, thus resulting in a total channel cross-section of 500 pm x 500 pm when mounted. 

First a 5 kW combined methanol steam reformer-catalytic combustor was built. The reactor was composed of modules ofthree types of plates forming a stack. Instead of microchaimels, fins served as mechanical support and improved heat transfer. A total of 225 plates were incorporated into the reactor. The reactor was designed for a maximum operating pressure of 4bar and 350 °C maximum reaction temperature. The experimental results presented were determined at a partial load of the device [1-2 kW for the lower heating value (LH V) of the hydrogen produced]. At a S/C ratio of... 

The application of plate heat-exchanger reactors carries advantages for all types of fuel processing reactors, namely for the reformer, the water-gas shift reactor and the... 

The most advanced types of plate reformers use compact heat exchanger hardware in which the catalyst is coated directly onto the exchanger surfaces or shims in the form of a thin film a few microns thick (Goulding, 2001). The concept is shown in Figure 8.8. Such devices are being developed in the United States by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory who have demonstrated a 1-kW steam reformer, and Argonne National Laboratory who... 

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