Catalytic reforming of natural gas for hydrogen production in a pilot fluidized-bed membrane reactor: Mapping of operating and feed conditions

A fluidized-bed membrane reformer was operated in two independent laboratories to map various operating conditions, to investigate the effects of changing the composition of the natural gas feed stream and to verify earlier experimental trials. Two feed natural gases were tested, containing either 95.5 or 90.1 mol% of methane (3.6 or 9.9 mol% of other gaseous higher hydrocarbons). Experimental tests investigated the influence of total membrane area, reactor pressure, permeate pressure and natural gas feed rates. A permeate-H2-to reactor natural gas feed molar ratio >2.3 was achieved with six two-sided membrane panels under steam reforming conditions and a pressure differential across the membranes of 785 kPa. The total cumulative reforming time reached 395 h, while hydrogen purity exceeded 99.99% during all tests.