Methanol steam reforming in a dense Pd–Ag membrane reactor: The pressure and WHSV effects on CO-free H2 production

In this experimental work, a dense tubular Pd–Ag membrane reactor is used for carrying out the methanol steam reforming reaction for producing a CO-free hydrogen stream. A non-commercial Cu/Zn/Mg-based catalyst is used in the lumen side of the membrane reactor and the experimental tests are performed at a reaction temperature of 300 °C and H2O/CH3OH feed molar ratio of 3/1. In both co-current and counter-current flow configurations, the effect of the weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) as well as the reaction pressure on the membrane reactor performances in terms of CO-free hydrogen recovery, hydrogen yield and hydrogen selectivity are proposed and discussed.