Effect of Diffuser Flow on the Performance of Water-Gas Shift Membrane Reactors

The Pd-based water-gas shift membrane reactor (WGS-MR) is a promising technology for pre-combustion CO2 capture and hydrogen production. A conceptual study on a tubular WGS-MR performance with an inner permeation diffuser flow for the syngas is investigated by numerical simulation. The results reveal that both the CO conversion and H-2 recovery of membrane reactors are improved. From a physical point of view, the time both for WGS reaction and for H-2 permeation through membrane becomes longer as the syngas goes through the channel of diffuser flows. This fact implies that the performance of WGS-MR will be enhanced if the diffuser flow channel is adopted.