Heterogeneous Numerical Modelling for the Autothermal Reforming of
Synthetic Crude Glycerol in a Fixed Bed Reactor
Abstract
This paper presents a numerical reactor model for the catalytic
autothermal reforming (ATR) reaction of crude glycerol in fixed bed
tubular reactor over an in-house developed metal oxide catalyst. The
heterogeneous model accounts for a two-phase system of solid catalyst
and bulk feed gas developed using finite element method. The reaction
scheme and intrinsic kinetic rate model over an active, selective, and
stable catalyst were integrated in the developed model. The model was
validated using experimental data. The modelling results adequately
described the detailed gas product composition and distribution,
temperature profiles, and conversion propagation in axial direction of
the fixed bed reactor over a wide range of reaction temperature and
hourly space velocity. The crude glycerol conversion predicted with the
model showing close resemblance to those obtained experimentally with an
average absolute deviation of 8%. The maximum conversion and yield were
92% and 3 mol. H2/mol. crude glycerol, respectively.