Operating window and flexibility of a lab-scale methanation plant

Performance of a Laboratory-Scale Methanation Plant with Catalyst Dilution under Dynamic Operating Conditions

“…The first reactor consists of a tube bundle with 19 individual tubes and a shell with baffles through which the thermal oil flows in cross-counterflow. Our previous study shows that the reactor stage is close to its maximum temperature at high space velocities . That is why, in this study, the catalyst bed is reconfigured to lower the hot-spot temperature.…”

“…Our previous study shows that the reactor stage is close to its maximum temperature at high space velocities. 7 That is why, in this study, the catalyst bed is reconfigured to lower the hot-spot temperature. The catalyst used in this study is a commercial Ni/Al 2 O 3 catalyst with >50 wt % nickel and additional support material.…”

“…Water is removed from the product gas to achieve SNG quality by condensation and adsorption drying. [Reprinted with permission from ref . Copyright 2022, Elsevier.…”

“…In case of cooled fixed-bed reactors intended for flexible operation, the management of the hot-spot temperature while maintaining the necessary conversion is the main challenge. At high loads 7 and during transient load shifts, 8 the maximum tolerable temperature can be exceeded. A possible method to reduce the maximum temperature in a fixed-bed reactor is the dilution of the catalyst with inert pellets.…”

“…In our previous study, 7 we examined the operating window and flexibility of a laboratory-scale methanation plant by steady-state experiments and model analyses. Results show that the first reactor stage is close to the maximum allowable temperature limit of 650 °C at high space velocities (GHSV).…”