Experimental and Numerical Investigations on Structured Catalysts for Methane Steam Reforming Intensification

Highly thermal conductive honeycomb structures were proposed as attractive catalyst supports in order to enhance heat and material transfer properties. This work is focused on experimental testing and preliminary numerical modeling of the methane steam reforming reaction performed on Ni-loaded SiC monolith, packaged into an externally heated tube: in particular, Flow Through and Wall Flow configurations were investigated. A preliminary steady-state heterogeneous 3D model was developed: the model equations include momentum, mass and energy balances. The experimental tests and the numerical simulations indicate that the Wall Flow configuration may overcome the fixed-bed reactor problems, yielding a more uniform temperature distribution and a more effective mass transport.