Assessment of the Effects of Temperature, Steam to Methane Ratio, Pressure and Space Velocity on Steam Methane Reforming Using Nickel and Rhodium Catalysts

Steam methane reforming process has the highest efficiency in hydrogen production methods. The role of temperature, pressure, inlet steam to methane ratio, Space velocity and catalyst are significant in the process. In this research, a numerical solution is illustrated using Cantera and Python to model Hydrogen production and synthesis gas through steam methane reforming with Nickel and Rhodium catalysts. The model has a temperature range of 600-1300K, steam to methane ratio 2-4, pressure 0.25-4bars, and gas hourly space velocity 150-120000. The results show that the best parameters range to produce Hydrogen using Nickel and Rhodium are temperature 1000-1300K, pressure 1-2 bars, velocity 5000-15000 per hour, and steam to methane ratio 2.5-3 and 3-3.5, respectively. Rhodium is more efficient than Nickel in certain operating conditions. However, the performance of these catalysts are the same at optimum states, so Nickel is more suitable than Rhodium because it is more economical and available.