Production of Hydrogen-Rich Gas from Methane by Thermal Plasma Reform

Abstract

This study investigated the reforming characteristics and optimum operating condition of the high-temperature plasma torch (so called plasmatron) for hydrogen-rich gas (syngas) production. At the optimum condition, the composition of produced syngas was 45.4% hydrogen (H₂), 6.9% carbon monoxide (CO), 1.5% carbon dioxide (CO₂), and 1.1% acetylene (C₂H₂). The H₂/CO ratio was 6.6, hydrogen yield was 78.8%, and the energy conversion rate was 63.6%. To obtain the optimum operating condition, parametric studies were carried out examining the effects of O₂/CH₄ ratio, steam/CH₄ ratio, and Ni catalyst addition in reactor. When the steam/CH₄ ratio was 1.23, the production of hydrogen was maximized and the methane conversion rate was 99.7%. The syngas composition was determined to be 50.4% H₂, 5.7% CO, 13.8% CO₂, and 1.1% C₂H₂. The H₂/CO ratio was 9.7, hydrogen yield was 93.7%, and the energy conversion rate was 78.8%. Hydrogen production with catalyst was effective, compared with no catalyst.