Title: Modelling of membrane reactor for hydrogen production by HI decomposition: studies on catalyst activity and non-isothermality in packed bed and coated wall configurations

Authors: Nitesh Goswami; Soumitra Kar; R.C. Bindal; P.K. Tewari

Addresses: Desalination Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai, 400085, India ' Desalination Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai, 400085, India ' Desalination Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai, 400085, India ' Desalination Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai, 400085, India

Abstract: The objective of this work was to assess the impact of deviations from isothermality in packed bed and coated wall membrane reactors on the rates of HI decomposition. A two-dimensional modelling was done for a packed bed membrane reactor as well as a coated wall membrane reactor for HI decomposition. The smaller diameter reactor showed higher apparent catalyst activity. The reactivity results showed that the reactors suffered from significant temperature gradients. We estimated the diameter required for packed bed and coated wall membrane reactors to achieve near isothermal operation. The coated wall reactor gives lower conversion than the packed bed reactor. The model confirmed that the measured catalyst activities in different diameter reactors varied due to heat transfer and pressure drop effects.

Keywords: hydrogen production; energy; packed bed membrane reactors; thermochemical cycles; iodine sulphur process; reactor modelling; hydrogen iodide decomposition; catalyst activity; non-isothermality; coated wall membrane reactors; temperature gradients; heat transfer; pressure drop.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNHPA.2016.078423

International Journal of Nuclear Hydrogen Production and Applications, 2016 Vol.3 No.1, pp.1 - 11

Received: 15 Jun 2013
Accepted: 13 Feb 2014
Published online: 17 Aug 2016 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article