Modeling and Simulation of Prereformed Naphtha and Methane Steam Reforming in a Catalytic Membrane Reactor

As climate change concerns grow, clean energy systems based on hydrogen fuels are receiving substantial attention. This paper presents the performance analysis of the PdAu membrane in a packed bed reactor loaded with Ni-based catalysts. A comparative analysis was conducted between methane steam reforming and prereformed naphtha at temperature and pressure ranges from 450 to 650 °C and 5 to 40 bar, respectively. A one-dimensional pseudo-homogeneous model was developed using Aspen Custom Modeler for a packed bed membrane reactor (MR) with catalysts packed between the membrane and the reactor shell. The developed mathematical model was used to study the effect of key operational parameters on the membrane performance such as concentration polarization, coadsorption inhibition, temperature, feed and permeate pressure, and membrane length and its thickness. The MR performance was measured by methane conversion, hydrogen recovery, and hydrogen yield. Prereformed naphtha shows slightly better performance in terms of methane conversion and hydrogen yield approaching 87 and 79%, respectively, under operational conditions of 650 °C and 40 bar as it is closer to the thermodynamic equilibrium. Also, it has lower energy consumption by 36.3% compared to the steam methane reforming conditions.