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Catalytic conversion of bio-renewable glycerol to pure hydrogen and syngas: Energy management and mitigation of environmental pollution

Khademi, M.H ; Sharif University of Technology | 2021

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  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. DOI: 10.1016/j.enconman.2021.114719
  3. Publisher: Elsevier Ltd , 2021
  4. Abstract:
  5. Hydrogen and syngas, as two effective clean fuels, have a considerable stake in the global fuel market. These are dominantly produced from fossil fuels through reforming processes, which lose a large amount of energy and emit numerous amounts of CO2. Bio-renewable glycerol steam reforming is an attractive alternative to traditional reforming for reducing the dependence on hydrocarbon resources and mitigating climate change. This research aims to manage a heat-integrated reactor with three concentric cylinders, containing exothermic-side (methane tri-reforming), endothermic-side (glycerol steam reforming), and permeation-side for co-production of pure hydrogen and syngas. In this process, tri-reforming was used as a heat source to drive the glycerol reforming reaction; hydrogen was continuously permeated through the palladium perm-selective membrane, and at the same time, the effluent gas produced in the endothermic-side was recycled to the exothermic-side as the feedstock to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. A theoretical study was conducted using a one-dimensional heterogeneous model to realize the role of effective parameters on glycerol and methane conversion as well as hydrogen recovery. Numerical results show that by adjusting the adequate operating conditions, glycerol and methane conversion equal to 100%, hydrogen recovery above 70%, and syngas with H2/CO ratio in the range of 1.8–2.0, compatible with the Fischer-Tropsch and methanol synthesis processes, can be achieved. In addition, this heat-integrated process is promising in terms of energy saving, environmental pollution reduction, feasibility and effectiveness for industrial-scale application; however, experimental proof-of-concept is required to ensure the safe operability of this process. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd
  6. Keywords:
  7. Carbon monoxide ; Catalytic reforming ; Climate change ; Effluents ; Energy conservation ; Fischer-Tropsch synthesis ; Fossil fuels ; Gas emissions ; Greenhouse gases ; Hydrogen production ; Methane ; Steam reforming ; Synthesis gas ; Catalytic conversion ; Clean fuel ; Environmental pollutions ; Glycerol conversions ; Glycerol steam reforming ; Heat-integrated reactors ; Hydrogen recovery ; Methane conversions ; Methane tri-reforming ; Syn gas ; Glycerol
  8. Source: Energy Conversion and Management ; Volume 247 , 2021 ; 01968904 (ISSN)
  9. URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0196890421008955