Mathematical Modeling of CO2 Reforming of Methane with Reverse Water-Gas Shift Reaction

Synthesis gas is the cornerstone of many chemical processes for manufacturing a broad range of petrochemical products. In this work, a mathematical model was developed for investigation of the CO2 reforming of methane in a catalytic packed bed reactor. To simulate the reformer, a pseudo homogenous two-dimensional mathematical model was developed and the resulting nonlinear second order partial differential equations were solved using the finite difference method. It was assumed that equilibrium reverse water-gas shift reaction always takes place in the reactor to adjust H-2/CO ratio (<= 1). The effect of operating conditions, including bulk density, porosity, inlet gas and wall temperature, reactor diameter, total molar flow of gas and inlet CH4/CO2 ratio on the reactor performance were investigated. Finally, the study investigated the effect of H-2/CO ratio on the outlet synthesis gas product at the range of 0.7-1. The validity of the model was investigated and the deviation between the model results and the experimental data was acceptable.