Numerical analysis of helium-heated methane/steam reformer

One of the most promising between many high temperature nuclear reactors applications is to produce hydrogen with heat gained. The simplest and the best examined method is steam reforming of methane. The fabricated hydrogen has wide range of use, for example can be electrochemically oxidized in fuel cells. However, heat management inside methane/steam reformer is extremely important because huge temperature gradients can cause catalyst deactivation. In this work the analysis of temperature field inside helium-heated methane/steam reformer is presented. The optimal system working conditions with respect to methane conversion rate are proposed.