Mass Transfer Coefficient in Multi-Stage Reformer/Membrane Modules for Hydrogen Production
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Unit of Process Engineering, Department of Engineering, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, via Álvaro del Portillo 21, 00128 Rome, Italy
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Unit of Chemical-physics Fundamentals in Chemical Engineering, Department of Engineering, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, via Álvaro del Portillo 21, 00128 Rome, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Membranes 2018, 8(4), 109; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes8040109
Received: 23 October 2018
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Revised: 7 November 2018
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Accepted: 9 November 2018
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Published: 14 November 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling and Design of Membrane Reactors)
Hydrogen is a promising energy carrier, and is exploitable to extract energy from fossil fuels, biomasses, and intermittent renewable energy sources and its generation from fossil fuels, with CO2 separation at the source being one of the most promising pathways for fossil fuels’ utilization. This work focuses on a particular configuration called the Reformer and Membrane Module (RMM), which alternates between stages of Steam Reforming (SR) reactions with H2 separation stages to overcome the thermodynamic limit of the conventional SR. The configuration has numerous advantages with respect to the more widely studied and tested membrane reactors, and has been tested during a pilot-scale research project. Although numerous modelling works appeared in the literature, the design features of the material exchanger (in the so-called RMM architecture) of different geometrical configurations have not been developed, and the mass transfer correlations, capable of providing design tools useful for such membrane modules, are not available. The purpose of this work is therefore to apply a physical-mathematical model of the mass transfer, in three different geometries, considering both concentration polarization and membrane permeation, in order to: (i) simulate the cited experimental results; (ii) estimate the scaling-up correlations for the “material exchange modules”; and (iii) identify the mass transfer limiting regime in relation to the gas mass flow rate.
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Keywords:
physical-mathematical modelling; concentration polarization; steam reforming; palladium membranes; experimental data
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MDPI and ACS Style
Barba, D.; Capocelli, M.; De Falco, M.; Franchi, G.; Piemonte, V. Mass Transfer Coefficient in Multi-Stage Reformer/Membrane Modules for Hydrogen Production. Membranes 2018, 8, 109. https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes8040109
AMA Style
Barba D, Capocelli M, De Falco M, Franchi G, Piemonte V. Mass Transfer Coefficient in Multi-Stage Reformer/Membrane Modules for Hydrogen Production. Membranes. 2018; 8(4):109. https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes8040109
Chicago/Turabian StyleBarba, Diego, Mauro Capocelli, Marcello De Falco, Giovanni Franchi, and Vincenzo Piemonte. 2018. "Mass Transfer Coefficient in Multi-Stage Reformer/Membrane Modules for Hydrogen Production" Membranes 8, no. 4: 109. https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes8040109
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