Modeling and Simulation of Autothermal Reforming Reactor of Diesel over Ni-based Catalyst in Solid Oxide Fuel Cell based Auxiliary Power Unit System

摘要

The catalytic reforming process in the fuel cell based APU system is effective in supplying the fuel cell with a hydrogen-rich gas stream.Of several reforming technologies,autothermal reforming(ATR)is regarded as the most reliable for transportation applications,due to its durability during long-1asting operation and independence of heat sources.As autothermal reforming is a thermally neutral process involving exothermic and endothermic reactions,the analysis of the reaction coupled with transport phenomena inside the reformer is needed for obtaining operating conditions with respect to a specific fuel source.Such analysis ensures that the reformate gas enter the fuel cell at suitable composition and temperature.Thus,this study proposes a dynamic model of ATR of diesel,while considering the heat transfer phenomena involved with the kinetics of the Ni-based catalyst.For rate parameters for the Ni-based catalyst,model-based parameter estimation is performed in gPROMS Process Builder with micro-reactor experimental data.The established kinetics is then incorporated into the one-dimensional homogeneous model that accounts for heat transfer phenomena inside the monolithic reformer.The developed model shows good agreement with the corresponding experiment of the lkW-class diesel ATR reactor conducted with step changes in the operating conditions.