Numerical Analysis on Impact of Membrane Thickness and Temperature on Characteristics of Biogas Dry Reforming Membrane Reactor Using Pd/Cu Membrane and Ni/Cr Catalyst

The purpose of this study is to reveal the characteristics of a Pd/Cu membrane and Ni/Cr catalyst adopted in a biogas dry reforming (BDR) membrane reactor by the numerical simulation procedure. The commercial software COMSOL Multiphysics ver. 6.2 was adopted in the numerical simulation. COMSOL is one type of commercial software that can solve multiphysics phenomena, i.e., chemical reaction, fluid dynamics, heat transfer, etc. The impact of the initial reaction temperature and the thickness of the Pd/Cu membrane on the performance of the BDR membrane reactor using an Ni/Cr catalyst is also investigated. The initial reaction temperatures adopted were 400 °C, 500 °C, and 600 °C, and the thicknesses of the Pd/Cu membrane were varied at 20 μm, 40 μm, and 60 μm. It was discovered that when the initial reaction temperature was raised, the molar concentration of H2 increased while the molar concentrations of CH4 and CO2 decreased. Because the penetration resistance of the Pd/Cu membrane decreased with the decrease in the thickness of the Pd/Cu membrane, the molar concentrations of H2 remaining in the Pd/Cu membrane and sweep chamber rose with the decrease in the thickness of the Pd/Cu membrane.