A simulation study on methanol steam reforming in the silica membrane reactor for hydrogen production K. Ghasemzadeh a,b , P. Morrone c , A.A. Babalou a , A. Basile c, * a Department of Chemical Engineering, Nanostructure Material Research Center, Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz 51335-1996, Iran b Department of Chemical Engineering, Urmia University of Technology, Urmia 57166-93187, Iran c ITM-CNR, c/o University of Calabria, Via Pietro Bucci, Cubo 17/C, 87036 Rende (CS), Italy article info Article history: Received 31 July 2013 Received in revised form 31 March 2014 Accepted 2 April 2014 Available online xxx Keywords: Silica membrane reactor Simulation study Hydrogen production Methanol steam reforming abstract The main aim of this study is the presentation of a quantitative operating analysis of silica membrane reactor for carrying out the methanol steam reforming reaction to produce hydrogen. For this, a 1-dimensional isothermal model is developed and the simulation study is carried out for evaluating the catalyst loading, sweep gas flow rate and silica membrane hydrogen selectivity effects on silica MR performance in terms of methanol conversion and hydrogen recovery. These parameters effects are investigated at different reaction temperatures and pressures. The model validation results show good agreement with literature experimental data. As a main consequence, simulation results indicate that the catalyst loading and sweep gas flow rate have positive effects on silica MR perfor- mance. However, this result is devoted to lower catalyst contents (<3 g) and sweep factor values (SF < 6). Moreover, the increase of silica membrane hydrogen selectivity increases the hydrogen recovery and methanol conversion. However, the improvement of mem- brane hydrogen selectivity in lower hydrogen permeance ranges cannot be more useful on silica MR performance in MSR reaction. According to the reaction pressure effect on silica MR performance, methanol conversion trends are various at different orders of hydrogen permeance. Copyright ª 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction With increasing concerns over gradual depletion of non- renewable fossil fuels and global warming, considerable attention has been paid to hydrogen for fuel cells in various applications owing to their zero emission and high efficiency [1]. One of the major challenges associated with the potential implementation of H 2 economy is the issue of hydrogen pro- duction. It has been produced mainly via the steam reforming of methane, methanol and ethanol where the conversion of feed is limited due to the thermodynamic equilibrium. Unlike hydrocarbon fuels, methanol is a sulphur free fuel and this avoids additional sulphur removal steps in the fuel * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ39 (0)984492013; fax: þ39 (0)984401071. E-mail address: a.basile@itm.cnr.it (A. Basile). Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/he international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (2014) 1 e10 Please cite this article in press as: Ghasemzadeh K, et al., A simulation study on methanol steam reforming in the silica membrane reactor for hydrogen production, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.ijhydene.2014.04.010 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2014.04.010 0360-3199/Copyright ª 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.