Effect of natural gas composition on autothermal fuel reforming products

This paper points out problems encountered in autothermal fuel reforming applied to the fuel cells, in particular when mixed-fuel processing is considered. The effect of fuel composition on the optimal hydrogen yield under the constraints of carbon-free and minimised carbon monoxide in the reformate is crucial in mixed-fuel processor whose feedstock contains methane, ethane, propane, butane, etc. To simplify the analysis, natural gas is considered in this study due to its large variation in fuel composition. A computer routine is coded which is able to randomly generate various natural gas compositions whose individual constituents fall within defined ranges. Each natural gas has gone through a simultaneous process of partial oxidation (POX) and steam reforming based on fixed molar air–fuel ratio (A/F) and waterfuel ratio (W/F). The products of reformed natural gas, in particular the hydrogen was used in a divergence analysis which provides the sensitivity profile of hydrogen yield with respect to the change of fuel composition.