Modeling analysis of water-gas-shift reaction on catalyst-packed ceramic-carbonate dual-phase membrane reactor for hydrogen production.

Water-gas shift (WGS) reaction for hydrogen production and CO 2 removal/capture in a catalyst-packed CO 2 -permselective membrane reactor is studied experimentally and simulated with a computational model. The reactor utilizes a tubular dense ceramic-carbonate dual-phase membrane with a commercial high-temperature WGS catalyst. Equations governing CO 2 permeation through the membrane and WGS reaction kinetics on the catalyst were obtained through independent CO 2 permeation experiments and a fixed-bed reaction kinetic study. The simulation results using the validated model are presented to examine the effects of feed gas composition, steam/CO ratio, gas hourly space velocity, temperature, reactor pressure, sweep to feed molar flow rate ratio, and the membrane area to catalyst volume ratio on the performance of the membrane reactor for WGS with CO 2 removal. Under optimized conditions, the catalyst-packed membrane reactor for WGS demonstrates significantly enhanced CO conversion and product H 2 purity by effectively removing/capturing CO 2 from the WGS reaction side. [Display omitted] • A model is established and validated for WGS reaction in a membrane reactor (MR). • Reactor comprises a CO 2 perm-selective membrane and high-temperature WGS catalyst. • The model examines the effects of operational conditions on the MR performance. • MR favors CO conversion, CO 2 capture, and H 2 purity at high pressure/temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]