Mathematical Modeling of CO2 Reforming of Methane with Reverse Water-Gas Shift Reaction

• Published in: Kinetics and catalysis Vol. 64; no. 5; pp. 578 - 587
• Main Authors: Rahimi, Ahmad Reza, AleEbrahim, Habib, Sohrabi, Morteza, Nouri, Seyed Mohammad Mahdi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 01.10.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Bulk density; Carbon dioxide; Catalysis; Chemical reactions; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Diameters; Finite difference method; Investigations; Mathematical analysis; Mathematical models; Methane; Packed beds; Partial differential equations; Physical Chemistry; Reaction synthesis; Reforming; Shift reaction; Synthesis gas; Two dimensional models; Wall temperature; greenhouse gases; water-gas shift reaction; synthesis gas; pseudo-homogeneous two-dimensional model; simulation; reformer
• ISSN: 0023-1584; 1608-3210
• DOI: 10.1134/S0023158423050087

Synthesis gas is the cornerstone of many chemical processes for manufacturing a broad range of petrochemical products. In this work, a mathematical model was developed for investigation of the CO 2 reforming of methane in a catalytic packed bed reactor. To simulate the reformer, a pseudo homogenous two-dimensional mathematical model was developed and the resulting nonlinear second order partial differential equations were solved using the finite difference method. It was assumed that equilibrium reverse water-gas shift reaction always takes place in the reactor to adjust H 2 /CO ratio (≤1). The effect of operating conditions, including bulk density, porosity, inlet gas and wall temperature, reactor diameter, total molar flow of gas and inlet CH 4 /CO 2 ratio on the reactor performance were investigated. Finally, the study investigated the effect of H 2 /CO ratio on the outlet synthesis gas product at the range of 0.7–1. The validity of the model was investigated and the deviation between the model results and the experimental data was acceptable.