Reactor modeling of methanol reforming in supercritical water

A kinetic model for the methanol reforming in supercritical water (SCW) at 600°C and 280 bar was developed. The model is a general two dimensional kinetic model considering diffusion and surface reactions. In this model, major reactions, e.g., steam reforming, water gas shift, methanation, and dry methanation, were considered. The experimental values obtained were in close agreement with the model predictions. The model predicted the experimental gas yields for a range of methanol loadings and at different residence times. It also predicted the equilibrium composition that agreed well with the thermodynamic calculations. This indicates that the reactions included in the model and the parameter estimates are adequate for describing the SCWG of methanol under the conditions explored. The kinetics of methanol reforming in SCW was sensitive to a very limited number of reactions and in the given conditions. Wall and wall diameter had a strong effect on the reactions. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the CHISA 2012 - 20th International Congress of Chemical and Process Engineering and PRES 2012 - 15th Conference on Process Integration, Modelling and Optimisation for Energy Saving and Pollution Reduction (Prague, Czech Republic 8/25-29/2012).