Numerical Study of Dry Reforming of Methane in Packed and Fluidized Beds: Effects of Key Operating Parameters

Abstract

Replacing the conventionally used steam reforming of methane (SRM) with a process that has a smaller carbon footprint, such as dry reforming of methane (DRM), has been found to greatly improve the industry’s utilization of greenhouse gases (GHGs). In this study, we numerically modeled a DRM process in lab-scale packed and fluidized beds using the Eulerian–Lagrangian approach. The simulation results agree well with the available experimental data. Based on these validated models, we investigated the effects of temperature, inlet composition, and contact spatial time on DRM in packed beds. The impacts of the side effects on the DRM process were also examined, particularly the role the methane decomposition reaction plays in coke formation at high temperatures. It was found that the coking amount reached thermodynamic equilibrium after 900 K. Additionally, the conversion rate in the fluidized bed was found to be slightly greater than that in the packed bed under the initial fluidization regime, and less coking was observed in the fluidized bed. The simulation results show that the adopted CFD approach was reliable for modeling complex flow and reaction phenomena at different scales and regimes.

Keywords

• dry reforming of methane
• packed bed
• fluidized bed
• computational fluid dynamics
• Eulerian–Lagrangian approach