Effect of Process Gas and Burner Gas Temperature on Reaction and Thermal Deformation Characteristics in a Steam Reformer

Abstract

This study numerically investigates the characteristics of chemical reactions and thermal deformation in a steam reformer. These phenomena are significantly affected by the high-temperature burner gas and the process gas conditions. Because the high temperature of the burner gas ranges from 800 to 1000 K, the reformer tubes undergo substantial thermal deformation, eventually resulting in structural failure. Thus, it is necessary to understand the characteristics of the reaction and thermal deformation under the operating conditions to evaluate the reformer tubes for sustainable, stable operation. Extensive numerical simulations were carried out using commercial CFD code (ANSYS FLUENT/MECHANICA Ver. 13.0) while considering three-dimensional turbulent flows and combined heat transfer including conduction, convection, and radiation. Structural analysis considering conjugated heat transfer between solid tubes and fluid flows was conducted using the Fluid-Solid Interaction (FSI) method. The results show that when the injection temperature of the process gas and burner gas decreased, the hydrogen production rate decreased significantly, and thermal deformation decreased by at least 15 to 20%.