CFD Simulation of Methane Steam Micro-Reformer: Channel Design and Inlet/Outlet Configuration

Micro-reformers used for producing hydrogen with a high surface-to-volume ratio in small-scale fuel cells were investigated. To this end, scrutinizing and exploiting all areas of micro reformers is very important. Parallel micro-channels have shown good performance in eliminating dead volumes. Inlet...

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Main Authors: H. Mohammadnezami, A. Irankhah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Iranian Association of Chemical Engineering (IAChE) 2019-10-01
Series:Iranian Journal of Chemical Engineering
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Online Access:https://www.ijche.com/article_133029_c299423b7cf9b890c98702cfb579c9f9.pdf
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author H. Mohammadnezami
A. Irankhah
author_facet H. Mohammadnezami
A. Irankhah
author_sort H. Mohammadnezami
collection DOAJ
description Micro-reformers used for producing hydrogen with a high surface-to-volume ratio in small-scale fuel cells were investigated. To this end, scrutinizing and exploiting all areas of micro reformers is very important. Parallel micro-channels have shown good performance in eliminating dead volumes. Inlet/outlet configuration has great effect on the velocity distribution through micro-channels. In this study, four configurations (1 inlet/1 outlet on the same and opposite sides; 1 inlet/2 outlets on the same and opposite sides) were studied through simulation and 1 inlet/2 outlets on opposite sides were found to have the lowest velocity difference, hence having the best configuration. Simulations were carried out at 600 °C, 1 atm, with S/C=3 and feed flow rate of 100 mL/min. Three channel patterns (i.e., parallel, splitting-jointing and pin-hole) were compared in terms of Figure of Merit (FoM) and specific conversion. Parallel channel design revealed a high value of specific conversion to be about 5.36   , while splitting-jointing and pin-hole were 5.33  and 4.91 , respectively. Based on FoM, pin-hole design had a high value of 1.34   , while the values of splitting-jointing and parallel designs were 0.037  and 1.28 , respectively.
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spelling doaj-art-abc68e3d6cc044b5afdfa7d6d6acb3b42025-08-20T02:25:08ZengIranian Association of Chemical Engineering (IAChE)Iranian Journal of Chemical Engineering1735-53972008-23552019-10-01164233510.22034/ijche.2019.133029133029CFD Simulation of Methane Steam Micro-Reformer: Channel Design and Inlet/Outlet ConfigurationH. Mohammadnezami0A. Irankhah1Hydrogen and Fuel cell Research Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Kashan, Kashan, IranHydrogen and Fuel Cell Research Lab., Chemical Engineering Dep., Engineering Faculty, University of KashanMicro-reformers used for producing hydrogen with a high surface-to-volume ratio in small-scale fuel cells were investigated. To this end, scrutinizing and exploiting all areas of micro reformers is very important. Parallel micro-channels have shown good performance in eliminating dead volumes. Inlet/outlet configuration has great effect on the velocity distribution through micro-channels. In this study, four configurations (1 inlet/1 outlet on the same and opposite sides; 1 inlet/2 outlets on the same and opposite sides) were studied through simulation and 1 inlet/2 outlets on opposite sides were found to have the lowest velocity difference, hence having the best configuration. Simulations were carried out at 600 °C, 1 atm, with S/C=3 and feed flow rate of 100 mL/min. Three channel patterns (i.e., parallel, splitting-jointing and pin-hole) were compared in terms of Figure of Merit (FoM) and specific conversion. Parallel channel design revealed a high value of specific conversion to be about 5.36   , while splitting-jointing and pin-hole were 5.33  and 4.91 , respectively. Based on FoM, pin-hole design had a high value of 1.34   , while the values of splitting-jointing and parallel designs were 0.037  and 1.28 , respectively.https://www.ijche.com/article_133029_c299423b7cf9b890c98702cfb579c9f9.pdfmicro-reformerchannel designmethanesimulationfluent
spellingShingle H. Mohammadnezami
A. Irankhah
CFD Simulation of Methane Steam Micro-Reformer: Channel Design and Inlet/Outlet Configuration
Iranian Journal of Chemical Engineering
micro-reformer
channel design
methane
simulation
fluent
title CFD Simulation of Methane Steam Micro-Reformer: Channel Design and Inlet/Outlet Configuration
title_full CFD Simulation of Methane Steam Micro-Reformer: Channel Design and Inlet/Outlet Configuration
title_fullStr CFD Simulation of Methane Steam Micro-Reformer: Channel Design and Inlet/Outlet Configuration
title_full_unstemmed CFD Simulation of Methane Steam Micro-Reformer: Channel Design and Inlet/Outlet Configuration
title_short CFD Simulation of Methane Steam Micro-Reformer: Channel Design and Inlet/Outlet Configuration
title_sort cfd simulation of methane steam micro reformer channel design and inlet outlet configuration
topic micro-reformer
channel design
methane
simulation
fluent
url https://www.ijche.com/article_133029_c299423b7cf9b890c98702cfb579c9f9.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT hmohammadnezami cfdsimulationofmethanesteammicroreformerchanneldesignandinletoutletconfiguration
AT airankhah cfdsimulationofmethanesteammicroreformerchanneldesignandinletoutletconfiguration