Experimental study of the methane steam reforming reaction in a dense Pd/Ag membrane reactor

The reaction of methane steam reforming was carried out in both a traditional reactor (TR) and a membrane reactor (MR). The membrane consisted of a 50-mum-thick pinhole-free palladium/ silver alloy. To investigate the enhancement of the methane conversion in the steam reforming reaction in an MR, the effects of various kinds of sweep gas (hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon monoxide, air, oxygen, and steam), as well as no sweep gas, were analyzed as a function of temperature at different molar flow rates of the sweep gas used. The dependence of the methane conversion on increasing H(2)O/CH(4) feed ratio was also studied. Experimental results in terms of methane conversion for the MR were compared with those obtained using a TR and literature data.