New reactor concept for kinetic investigations of autothermal gasoline reforming

摘要

To control a fuel processor, a simple yet accurate kinetic model is necessary. For this purpose,a new experimental optically accessible channel reactor was built to investigate the kineticsof autothermal gasoline reforming in monoliths. The reactor allows surface temperaturemeasurements (infrared thermography) of the catalyst, through a quartz window withoutaffecting the flow in the reactor.First experiments were performed, where a Fecralloy? plate was placed in the reactor. Theplate was coated with a proprietary reforming catalyst containing 1 wt.% of Rh. Preliminaryexperiments to test the concept of infrared surface temperature measurements were performedwith an infrared pyrometer. The temperature on the surface of the catalytic plate wasmeasured during methane reforming. The active regions exhibited temperature differences ofup to 50 K compared to a blank experiment with nitrogen. At locations further downstream,where oxygen is completely consumed, a temperature decrease is observed.Fluid dynamic modeling of the channel reactor was performed to check the velocity field inthe channel for different operating conditions. Buoyancy forces were insignificant at theconditions studied, the parabolic inlet flow profile was maintained along the reactor channel.