On performance factors of a steam-reforming reactor for dodecane

Abstract

The authors develop a small and simple steam-reforming reactor in a home-use size for n-dodecane as a heavy-hydrocarbons fuel. Under the thermal condition controlled by electric heaters and a gas burner with a thermal diffuser, the authors measure the inside-temperature profile and the hydrogen molar fraction (concentration) CH2, together with the molar fractions CCH4, CCO and CCO2 of other main gas components such as CH4, CO and CO2, respectively. As a result, the authors successfully achieve suitable inside-temperature profiles. And, the authors experimentally reveal the effects of the liquid-hourly space velocity LHSV upon the molar fractions, in addition to the LHSV effect upon a conversion ratio XC12H26. Furthermore, the authors reveal the effects of the temperature T inside the reactor upon both the molar fractions and XC12H26, comparing with the chemical-equilibrium theory in a wide range of LHSV. The comparison with the chemical-equilibrium theory indicates that the temperature at the catalyst-layer-bed downstream end could be regarded as the reaction temperature.

Keywords

• steam reforming
• fuel cell
• n-dodecane
• heavy hydrocarbon
• hydrogen