Evaluation of sorption-enhanced reforming of biodiesel by-product in fluidized beds by means of CFD approach

The sorption-enhanced glycerol steam reforming (SE-GSR) provides a promising high-efficient means for hydrogen production. Fluidized bed reactors have their own potential on the heat transfer and sorbent regeneration. To gain a deep insight into the SE-GSR process in fluidized bed reactors, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach is employed in this study. The multi-fluid model is implemented with chemical kinetics of glycerol steam reforming and CO2 absorption. The bubble effect on gas-solid drag force is considered via a bubble-based EMMS drag model. A three-dimensional simulation is carried out to investigate the flow characteristics and interaction mechanic of binary mixture with catalyst and sorbent particles. The predictions with and without sorption reactions are compared. The effects of operating velocity and sorbent size on the performance are also discussed. The results reveal that reducing operating velocity and sorbent diameter can improve the hydrogen yield and fuel conversion.