Two-Dimensional Heterogeneous Simulation of Methane Steam Reforming Catalytic Reactor

In this paper, a two-dimensional heterogeneous reactor model was employed to predict the performance of a methane-steam reformer. External and internal effects for heat and mass transfer were included into the model. The set of coupled differential equations was solved numerically. To study the effects of different parameters, such as temperature, pressure,steam-to-methane ratio,simulation was performed and the results compared against data from an industrial reformer. A good agreement between the simulation and the industrial data is seen, indicating the efficiency of the mathematical model. Also the percentage error was between 1% and 10% for various cases (such as: temperature, pressure and etc.)