Mathematical modeling of hydrogen production using methanol steam reforming in the coupled membrane reactor when the output materials of the reformer section is used as feed for the combustion section

Hydrogen is one of the most abundant elements on Earth's surface. It is not in nature in its pure form, but it can produce by various methods such as methanol steam reforming, partial oxidation, electrolysis, etc. In the present study, using the mass and energy conservation law, hydrogen production in coupled membrane reactors has been modeled using the methanol steam reforming process using two different methods in the coupled membrane reactor. A separate (fresh) methanol is used as feed for the combustion section in the first method. While in the second method, the reformer reactor's output material is used as feed for the combustion section. After simplifying using the required assumptions, the governing equations solved using the ode45 (shooting method) numerical method using MATLAB software. The results of this study show that the conversion of methanol in the coupled membrane reactor when separate methanol is used as feed in the combustion reactor, while in the same reactor, the output material of the reformer section used as feed in the combustion section, is 92% and 88.5% respectively. In this study, the effect of different parameters on the methanol conversion rate is investigated. Finally, it found that with increasing temperature and pressure and decreasing membrane thickness in coupled membrane reactors, methanol conversion rate increases. The percentage of hydrogen recovery in the two coupled membrane reactors is almost equal to 92%. (C) 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study models hydrogen production in coupled membrane reactors using different methods, showing that the conversion of methanol varies depending on the feed used in the combustion section. The research also explores the impact of different parameters on methanol conversion rate.