Novel structured catalysts configuration for intensification of steam reforming of methane Vincenzo Palma, Marco Martino, Eugenio Meloni, Antonio Ricca * University of Salerno, Department of Industrial Engineering of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II 132, 84084, Fisciano, SA, Italy article info Article history: Received 31 March 2016 Received in revised form 20 May 2016 Accepted 18 June 2016 Available online xxx Keywords: Methane reforming Process intensification Structured catalyst Hydrogen production abstract Structured catalysts, using highly conductive carriers, can improve the heat transfer along the catalytic bed, affording high performance with a flattened radial temperature gradient. The effect of thermal conductivity of structured carriers on highly endothermic Steam Reforming reaction is investigated. The performance of the structured catalysts, obtained on Cordierite and Silicon Carbide (SiC) monoliths, demonstrates the direct correlation between the thermal conductivity of the carrier, the methane conversion and the hydrogen productivity. The evaluation of the monolith configuration shows that the SiC “wall flow” guarantees a better axial and radial thermal distribution, with respect to the SiC “flow through”, resulting in better catalytic activity up to a temperature reaction of 750  C. The comparison among the performance of the structured catalysts and the commercial 57- 4MQ, provided by Katalco-JM, highlights the choice of structured catalysts, which require a lower temperature outside of the reactor, increasing the process efficiency. © 2016 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction Hydrogen was identified as the optimal energy carrier for a wide range of current and future energy applications [1]. Due to concerns about climate change and the depletion of hy- drocarbon fuel resources, increased energy efficiency and diversification of fuel sources are essential [2]. The growing interest towards “green” technologies and resources for hydrogen production (solar, biomass, electrochemical, etc.) are op to now counter by the relevant operating difficulties of such processes, that unavoidably affects the final cost of H 2 . Therefore, hydrogen production by fossil fuels reforming still appears the most viable solution, while the optimization of such processes (also called “process intensification” [3]) was identified as a short term solution in energetic resource safe. Among the three primary techniques used to produce hydrogen from hydrocarbon fuels (steam reforming, partial oxidation and auto-thermal reforming), the Steam Reforming of natural gas is the less expensive and most widely used in- dustrial process for the production of hydrogen, strongly required in the production of ammonia, methanol and C5eC12 fraction of hydrocarbons. The Steam Reforming (SR) is a highly endothermic equilibrium reaction; depending on the hydrocarbon used, the DH could reach huge values, for example by using the n-C 7 H 16 , the DH  298 is about 1.109 kJ/mol. The general reaction is reported in the following equation C n H m þ nH 2 O%nCO þðn þ 1=2mÞH 2 DH > 0 (1) Widespread is the Methane Steam Reforming (MSR), nor- mally described as the result of two main reactions, the reforming (2) and the wateregas shift (WGS) reactions (3), * Corresponding author. E-mail address: aricca@unisa.it (A. Ricca). Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/he international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (2016) 1 e10 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2016.06.162 0360-3199/© 2016 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Please cite this article in press as: Palma V, et al., Novel structured catalysts configuration for intensification of steam reforming of methane, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2016.06.162