An important challenge in the design of compact reformers is achieving sufficiently complete mixing of fuel, steam, and air. This requires computationally expensive coupled kinetic and transport models. To reduce computational costs, it is advantageous to analyze the gas-phase reaction kinetics separately prior to performing the coupled simulations. A kinetic complication is that hydrocarbon reactivity in the temperature range expected in the mixing region can depend inversely on temperature (Negative Temperature Coefficient). To investigate the role of NTC, fuel conversions and ethylene yields of alkane fuels were calculated as a function of temperature for a typical set of S/C andO/C ratios. The results confirm the importance of NTC chemistry and suggest that for most alkanes it would be better to initiate mixing at higher temperatures near 550�C for these particular conditions. In general, ignition chemistry must be considered in mixer design to avoid undesirable reactions that could compromise reformer operation.

Impact of gas-phase reactions in the mixing region of a hydrocarbon reformer

242nd National Meeting (2011)

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