Comparison between a micro reactor with multiple air inlets and a monolith reactor for oxidative steam reforming of diesel

In order to lower the emission from idling heavy-duty trucks auxiliary power units can be implemented. Due to limited space available on-board the truck the units needs to be both efficient and compact. One alternative for these units is a fuel cell supplied with hydrogen from a fuel reformer. Today, mostly monolithic reactors are used in the field of oxidative steam reforming of fuels, which has some challenges that need to be addressed before a possible breakthrough occurs on the market. One is the temperature gradient developed over the length of the monolith as a consequence of the sequential reactions. This could be improved by using a metallic micro reactor with better heat integration between the reaction zones and further improving the integration with multiple air inlets along the catalytic bed. m with this study was to compare a conventional monolith reactor for oxidative steam reforming of fuel with a novel micro reactor design where air was dosed at four different positions along the reactor channels. The experiments were not necessarily conducted autothermal, i.e. a heating jacket was applied for operation.