Novel macro-micro channel reactor for reforming glycerol produced from biodiesel productions

Abstract

Glycerol is produced as a major byproduct in a biodiesel production process but has been thrown out as a waste. The glycerol byproduct will increase rapidly in amount if the biodiesel commercialization is attainable, so the glycerol reforming technology is required to use as a high value product. In the present study, a novel macro-micro channel reactor for the glycerol reforming was proposed. The reactor consists of a macro channel for the glycerol reforming and micro channels for a catalytic combustion. The macro channel prevents the glycerol reformer from being clogged by the carbon formation. The micro channel improves the heat transfer between the glycerol reformer and the catalytic combustor. The effect of channel configurations, flow conditions and catalyst properties on the heat transfer rate and pressure drop was investigated using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis. Based on the CFD results, the optimal macro-micro channel reactor was manufactured and its performance was evaluated. The macro micro channel reactor had a higher glycerol conversion compared to the conventional packed-bed reactor because it had a uniform temperature distribution through the reactor. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.