Experimental testing of multi-tubular reactor for hydrogen production and comparison with a thermal CFD model

AIP Conference Proceedings, 2033, Nov. 2018, Article number 130013-1-130013-9 This study presents a comparison of the experimental tests and CFD results for a multi-tubular solar reactor for hydrogen production in a pilot plant in the Plataforma Solar de Almería. This paper describes the methodology used for the solar reactor design and the experimental tests carry out during the testing and characterization campaign of the plant. The CFD model which has been used to design the solar reactor has been validated with an error around 10%. CFD simulations also allow to solve the thermal balance in the reactor (cavity and tubes) and to calculate the percentage of reacting media inside the tubes which achieve the required temperature for the process. The temperature in the thermocouples is around 1200 °C for the experimental data and a 90% of the ferrite inside the tube is above 900 °C. The multi-tubular solar reactor, which has been design with CFD techniques, has been built and operated successfully. Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Plan Nacional de Investigación Científica, Desarrollo e Innovación Tecnológica 2008-2011 Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional IPT-2011-1323-920000 Fondos FEDER Andalucía 2007-2013 Proyecto RNM 6127