Thermodynamic analysis of hydrogen production by partial oxidation reforming

This paper presents thermodynamic analysis of hydrogen production by partial oxidation reforming. The analysis applies two approximations to the chemistry: global reaction balances and chemical equilibrium. The global reaction analysis provides theoretical upper limits on the process in the form of algebraic expressions involving the steam-to-carbon ratio and the oxygen-to-carbon ratio as process parameters. The equilibrium computations provide a more realistic estimate of the expected product composition and thermal efficiency of the process. The equilibrium predictions are compared to experimental data obtained using a first generation plasmatron reformer operated on diesel fuel. The efficiency of this compact reformer was considerably below the theoretical maximum.