Review The use of inert porous media based reactors for hydrogen production Z. Al-Hamamre a, *, A. Al-Zoubi b a University of Jordan, Faculty of Engineering and Technology Chemical Engineering Department, 11942 Amman, Jordan b TU-Bergakademie Freiberg, Institute of Heat Technology and Thermodynamics, Chair of Gas and Heat Technology, Gustav-Zeuner-Str.7, 09596 Freiberg, Germany article info Article history: Received 4 October 2009 Received in revised form 19 November 2009 Accepted 22 November 2009 Available online 15 January 2010 Keywords: Hydrogen production Thermal partial oxidation Porous media Numerical simulation abstract The present review paper examines the production of hydrogen in inert porous media based reformer by thermal partial oxidation. Here we consider, specifically, the rich combustion of hydrocarbon fuels and the conversion of H 2 S to hydrogen. The different technologies to produce hydrogen beside the experimental and numerical work done in this field are presented. The effect of different operating conditions, such as the equiva- lence ratio, the mass flow rate and the reactant feed temperature are explained. Addi- tionally, design parameters, including the reactor geometry and porous material specifications, are discussed. ª 2009 Professor T. Nejat Veziroglu. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The world consumption of fossil fuels is continuously growing in order to fulfill the industrial demands of energy. With such high consumption rate and due to the limitation of fossil fuel sources fuel prices are expected to increase enormously and at the same time these sources may also approach their end. Furthermore, the emissions associated with combustion processes have a severe impact on the environment and threaten the health of people. Consequently, sharp regula- tions have been and are being created to enforce the reduction of combustion emissions and to control the chemical and radiative properties of the atmosphere. Hydrogen is in the discussion of being the fuel of the future because it is an environmental friendly gas which produce only water when reacted with oxygen. In addition, it is an important chemical feedstock in many chemical industries. Hydrogen can be produced from liquid fuels (e.g., heating oil, gasoline and diesel), gaseous fuels (e.g., natural gas and LPG) by steam reforming, catalytic or thermal partial oxidation (POX) and autothermal oxidation [1]. Hydrogen can also be produced by thermal catalytic or noncatalytic decomposition of Hydrogen Sulfide [2–5]. Compared to other reforming technologies, the exothermic POX process has several advantages [6,7]. There is no need for external heat sources and additional fluids like water. It has a good dynamic response time and it can handle light as well as heavy hydrocarbon fuels. Therefore, small-scale partial oxidation systems are receiving much interest in the energy utilization field in both stationary and unstationary applications. Their * Corresponding author. E-mail address: z.hamamre@ju.edu.jo (Z. Al-Hamamre). Available at www.sciencedirect.com journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/he international journal of hydrogen energy 35 (2010) 1971–1986 0360-3199/$ – see front matter ª 2009 Professor T. Nejat Veziroglu. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2009.11.079