Syngas, or synthetic gas, is composed primarily of hydrogen (H_2) and carbon monoxide (CO). Carbon monoxide and hydrogen store chemical energy, thus syngas can be used as a fuel source. Fuel reformation is the process used to convert an existing fuel source, such as methane or diesel, into synthetic gas. In this study, thermal partial oxidation is used for fuel reformation to eliminate the need for the catalyst. Thermal partial oxidation employs thermal energy to partially oxidize the fuel to produce syngas. The major drawback to this method of fuel reforming is the significant heat loss associated with the procedure. Further, fuel reforming at the mesoscale is difficult because of the short residence time available. In this study, a fuel reformer with a counterflow annular heat exchanger for heat recirculation and porous inert media to stabilize the flame is presented. These design features address the issue of major heat loss and make the process much more efficient. A detailed computational analysis is presented to evaluate design features and show thermal and combustion characteristics of the system. The analysis is based on conservation equations of mass, momentum, and species mass conservation in an axisymmetric domain. The computational analysis includes simulations under rich conditions at ambient pressure. Chemkin and Fluent software were integrated to simulate rich methane-air combustion at different equivalence ratios using a detailed chemical kinetic mechanism. Analysis reveals the effects of reactant inlet temperature and fuel reformer operating conditions on fuel to syngas conversion. Ultimately this study shows that thermal oxidation for fuel reforming can be a viable and efficient process.
展开▼
