Modeling of an Autothermal Catalytic Monolith Reformer to Obtain Hydrogen for Fuel Cells (Considering Inlet Oxygen Effect)

Due to the increasing use of fuel cells in different industries and as an on-site application, there is a need to develop on-site centers for hydrogen production. In the present paper, a catalytic monolithic reformer including the methane autothermal reforming process was 3D modeled. The catalyst used in the present modeling was 5%. This modeling was based on the simultaneous solution of the conservation equations, in which the effect of performed reactions was also considered. One channel of this monolithic reactor was used as the computational domain. The results of this modeling were in good agreement with the laboratory data available in the literature. This model was used to estimate the performance of the reformer in other operating conditions. The parameter studied in the present research was the inlet oxygen/methane molar ratio. Finally, it was found that to achieve the maximum hydrogen content in the range of operating parameters, the molar ratios of reactor inlet oxygen/methane and steam/methane should be equal to 0.445 and 3.8, respectively.