Conceptual Design of GTL (Gas to Liquid) Complex - Modeling and Optimization of A Reforming Reactor

초록

Gas to Liquid (GTL) is one of the prospective synthetic crude manufacturing technology that is expected to replace conventional crude oil in the future. In this article, natural gas reformer model was modeled and optimized for syngas production in GTL process. For the modeling of a reforming reactor, kinetics of major reaction mechanisms such as steam reforming, dry reforming and water gas shift reaction on nickel-based catalyst were incorporated into a furnace type multi-tubular reactor that was developed based on 2-dimensional model. Then, various reactor design and operating parameters were considered to maximize reactor performance such as conversion. These optimization parameters include: (1) external heat flux to a reactor, (2) inert catalyst mixing, etc. The results showed that methane conversion is heavily dependent on outlet temperature of the reactor, and how to control temperature across the reactor is a key factor to achieve the best performance of the reactor avoiding cold spot.