Disk-shaped packed bed micro-reactor for butane-to-syngas processing

• Published in: Chemical engineering science Vol. 63; no. 21; pp. 5193 - 5201
• Main Authors: Hotz, Nico, Osterwalder, Neil, Stark, Wendelin J., Bieri, Nicole R., Poulikakos, Dimos
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01-11-2008; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Butane-to-syngas processing; Catalysis; Catalytic nanoparticles; Catalytic reactions; Chemical engineering; Chemical reactor design; Chemistry; Disk-shaped packed bed micro-reactor; Exact sciences and technology; General and physical chemistry; Hydrodynamics of contact apparatus; Intermediate-temperature SOFC; Reactors; Rhodium catalyst; Theory of reactions, general kinetics. Catalysis. Nomenclature, chemical documentation, computer chemistry; Disk-shaped packed bed micro-reactor; Catalytic nanoparticles; Chemical reactor design; Rhodium catalyst; Intermediate-temperature SOFC; Butane-to-syngas processing; Nanoparticle; Compactness; Radial flow; Synthesis gas; Solid oxide fuel cell; Optimization; Design; Chemical reactor; Production; Reaction mechanism; Packed bed; Catalytic reaction; Stability; Fixed bed reactor; Hydrodynamics; Long term; Partial oxidation; Pressure drop; Steam reforming; Catalyst
• ISSN: 0009-2509; 1873-4405
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ces.2008.06.024

A novel disk-shaped packed bed micro-reactor containing Rh/ceria/zirconia nanoparticles is investigated with respect to catalytic butane-to-syngas processing at moderate temperatures of 550
°C. The main goal of this study is the development of an efficient butane processor which can be integrated into a micro solid oxide fuel cell system due to its small size, easily packaged geometry in layered microdevices, high compactness, low pressure drop, and low reaction temperature. It is shown that Rh/ceria/zirconia has an excellent long-term stability and achieves very high C
4H
10 conversion and syngas selectivity, considering the relatively low operating temperature. The yields of H
2 and CO can be increased up to 71% and 57%, respectively, by optimizing operational parameters such as the C/O ratio and the total inlet flow rate. The introduced disk-shaped packed bed reactor shows significant advantages in catalytic behavior, at a 6.5 times lower pressure drop compared to an equivalent tubular packed bed reactor. This increased catalytic performance is pursued extensively by investigating possible reaction pathways in three regions of the radial-flow reactor, leading to the significant discovery of a threefold pathway of syngas production on a single catalyst. To this end, it is shown that the excellent selectivities to H
2 and CO for high flow rates are due to the combination of partial oxidation, steam reforming, and dry reforming of C
4H
10, indicating one direct and two indirect reaction paths.