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. The aim 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. •Comparison of a micro reactor with multiple air inlets and a monolith reactor for OSR.•High H2 yield in the micro reactor is observed.•CO formation in micro reactor first above 775 °C, implying a high WGS activity.