Autothermal reforming of natural gas for high-temperature fuel cells

Abstract

Hydrogen production using current fueling facilities is essential for near- term applications of fuel cells. A Preliminary process for developing natural gas autothermal reforming (ATR) reactor for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) was presented in this paper. Catalyst scanning was performed for three catalysts and Pt based catalyst selected for further study. Using Pt catalyst we found feeding condition for the thermal neutrality by varying $O_2/CH_4$ with selected temperatures and feeding conditions. Temperature profiles of a reactor were observed and reformed gas composition was analyzed to evaluate efficiency, conversion and heat of reaction. $O_2/CH_4$ showed strong effects on reactor temperature, efficiency and conversion. Thermal neutral conditions were determined for two cases of ATR system on the basis of yields of products of experimental results. These conditions could be used as a guideline for reformer design and operation parameter for self-sustaining ATR.