• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.156.1-156.1
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• 2011

It is of great importance to predict operating parameter characteristics of an integrated fuel processor by the increased life-time and system performance. In this study, computational analysis is performed to gain fundamental insights on transport phenomena and chemical reactions in reformer which consists of preheating, steam reforming, and water gas shift reaction beds. Also, a top-fired burner locates inside of the reforming system. The combustor is providing thermal energy necessary for the steam reforming bed which is a endothermic catalytic reactor. Two-dimensional numerical model of the integrated fuel processing system is introduced for the analysis of heat and mass transport phenomena as well as surface kinetics and catalytic process. A kinetic model was developed and then computational results were compared with the experimental data available in the literature. Subsequently, parameter study using the validated steam methane reforming model was conducted by considering operating parameters, i.e. steam to carbon ratio and temperature.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.27-33
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• 2016

The aim of numerical study is the investigation of the solid and fluid temperatures in a reformer tube and chemical reaction characteristics of different steam-carbon ratio. We considered conjugate heat transfer contain radiation, convection and conductive heat transfers. This is because steam reforming reaction of hydrocarbon occurred high temperature conditions up to 800 K- 1000 K by using commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code (Fluent ver. 13.0). For numerical simulation, the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes, momentum and energy equation were employed. In addition, inside of reformer tube is assumed as the porous medium to consider the Nichrome-based catalyst. To analysis characteristics of tube temperature in chemical reaction, we changed steam-methane ratio(SCR) from 1 to 6. As increased SCR, the higher tube temperature and methane conversion were observed. It was obtained that the highest hydrogen production held in SCR of 5.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.100-108
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• 2011

The use of biogas as an energy source reduces the chance of possible emission of two greenhouse gases, $CH_4$ and $CO_2$, into the atmosphere at the same time. Its nature of being a reproducible energy source makes its use even more attractive. This research if for the hydrogen production through the steam reforming of the biogas. The biogas utilized 3D-IR matrix burner in which the surface combustion is applied. The nickel catalyst was used inside a reformer. Parametric screening studies were achieved as Steam/Carbon ratio, biogas component ratio, Space velocity and Reformer temperature. When the condition of Steam/Carbon ratio, $CH_4/CO_2$ ratio, Space velocity and Refomer temperature were 3.25, 60%:40%, 19.32L/$g{\cdot}hr$ and $700^{\circ}C$ respectively, the hydrogen concentration and methane conversion rate were showed maximum values. Under the condition mentioned above, $H_2$ concentration was 73.9% and methane conversion rate was 98.9%.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.749-760
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• 2022

An efficient computational fluid dynamics model was proposed for simulating microchannel-type steam/methane reformers with thin washcoat catalyst layers. In this model, by using the effectiveness factor correlations, the overall reaction rate that occurs in the washcoat catalyst layer could be accurately estimated without performing the detailed calculation of heat transfer, mass transfer, and reforming reactions therein. The accuracy of the proposed model was validated by solving a microchannel-type reformer, once by fully considering the complex steam/methane reforming (SMR) process inside the washcoat layer and again by simplifying the SMR calculation using the effectiveness factor correlations. Finally, parametric studies were conducted to investigate the effects of operating conditions on the SMR performance.

• 한국연소학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.50-57
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• 2005

The aim of this study is to numerically investigate a compact reformer system currently under development and to design a better reforming system with more efficient heat transfer and reforming reactions. Numerical models were established separately for both the combustion part and the reforming reaction part. A comparison between the calculation results and experimental data showed that the concentration of the reformate at the exit of the reforming system was in good agreement with the measured data, but for the temperature at the exit little difference between them was found. After checking the validity of the numerical models, the heat transfer between the combustion gas and reforming catalysts was estimated and the behavior of the catalyst bed was investigated as a function of the operation parameters.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.403-408
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• 2006

The plate reformer consisting of combustion chamber and reforming chamber for 25 kW MCFC stack has been operated and computational fluid dynamics was applied to estimate reactions and thermal fluid behavior in the reformer. The methane air 2-stage reaction was assumed in the combustion chamber, and three step steam reforming reactions were included in the calculation. Flow uniformity, reaction rate and species distribution, and temperature distribution were analyzed. In particular, temperature distribution was compared with the measurements to show good agreement in the combustion chamber, however, inappropriate agreement in the reformer chamber.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.32 no.8
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• pp.636-644
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• 2008

The objective of this paper is to investigate characteristics of an autothermal reformer at various operating conditions. Numerical method has been used, and simulation model has been developed for the analysis. Pseudo-homogeneous model is incorporated because the reactor is filled with catalysts of a packed-bed type. Dominant chemical reactions are Full Combustion reaction, Steam Reforming(SR) reaction, Water-Gas Shift(WGS) reaction, and Direct Steam Reforming(DSR) reaction. Simulation results are compared with experimental results for code validation. Operating parameters of the autothermal reformer are inlet temperature, Oxygen to Carbon Ratio(OCR), Steam to Carbon Ratio(SCR), and Gas Hourly Space Velocity(GHSV). Temperature at the reactor center, fuel conversion, species at the reformer outlet, and reforming efficiency are shown as simulation results. SR reaction rate is improved by increased inlet temperature. Reforming efficiency and fuel conversion reached the maximum at 0.7 of OCR. SR reaction and WGS reaction are activated as SCR increases. When GHSV is increased, reforming efficiency increases but pressure drop from the increased GHSV may decrease the system efficiency.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.40 no.12
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• pp.793-799
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• 2016

In a hybrid fuel cell system, low-temperature reforming technology, which uses waste heat as a heat source, is applied to improve system efficiency. A low temperature reformer is required to optimize geometry in low thermal conditions so that the reformer can achieve the proper methane conversion rate. This study analyzed internal temperature distributions and the reaction patterns of a reformer by considering the change of the shape factor on the limited heat supply condition. Unlike the case of a high temperature reformer, analysis showed that the reaction of a low temperature reformer takes place primarily in the high temperature region of the reactor exit. In addition, it was confirmed that the efficiency can be improved by reducing the GHSV (gas hourly space velocity) or increasing the heat transfer area in the radial direction. Through reacting characteristic analysis, according to change of the aspect ratio, it was confirmed that a low temperature reformer can improve the efficiency by increasing the heat transfer in the radial direction, rather than in the longitudinal direction.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.25-28
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• 2008

Steam reforming reaction is a matured technology to get hydrogen from hydrocarbon fuels compared with other reforming reactions such as partial oxidation(POX), autothermal reforming(ATR). It is so endothermic that it needs heat source to activate the reaction. Due to the reaction characteristics, heat transfer limitation phenomena generally occur in the steam reformer. As one of new ideas, the effect of discontinuous gas feeding is investigated based on heat transfer characteristics. The new operating method is usually favorable at high GHSV region(i.e. over $10,000h^{-1}$). In order to numerically simulate the physical issues, numerical approach is adopted based on heterogeneous reaction model, two-equation model in energy equation, and other constitutive models in porous media.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.497-503
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• 2008

Hydrogen is considered as a fuel of the future for its renewability and environmental compatibility. The reforming of hydrocarbon fuels is currently the most important source of hydrogen, which is expected to continue for next several decades. In this study, extensive CFD simulations on the steam-methane reforming process were conducted to study the performance of four reaction models, i.e. three Arrhenius-type models and a user-defined function (UDF) model. The accuracies of different reaction models for various operating temperatures and steam carbon ratios (SCRs) were evaluated by comparing their CFD results with zero-dimensional intrinsic model of Xu and Froment. It was found that the UDF model generally produced more accurate results than Arrhenius-type models. However, it was also shown that Arrhenius-type models could be made sufficiently accurate by choosing appropriate reaction coefficients, and thus could also be useful for the simulation of the steam-methane reforming process.