Study of a thermally integrated parallel plates reactor for hydrogen production

Abstract This paper deals with the study of the integration of ethanol steam reforming and ethanol combustion in a parallel plates reactor aiming a hydrogen production of 1 kW th equivalent. The study was performed by means of a mathematical model of a non-adiabatic reactor and the associated heat exchangers used for preheating purposes. Focus is given here to the influence of the insulation of the reactor and heat exchangers, the fuel concentration, fuel distribution policy to the reactor, and reforming flowrate. Thermal coupling between combustion and reforming of ethanol in terms of energetic integration is feasible and an adequate behavior of the reactor and the heat exchangers is predicted. The importance of heat losses to the environment is evidenced since they represent about 35–50% of the heat released by the combustion. Ranges of ethanol fuel concentration (0.6–2.0% of ethanol fuel) and distribution (1 or 2 feed ports), and ethanol reforming load (0.37–0.63 kg/h) were studied to find windows for these variables where a satisfactory operation is possible.