Scale-up of microtechnology for fuel processing applications: comparison between fixed-bed and microchannel reactor systems

Microreactor (microchannel) technology and conventional (fixed-bed) reactor technology for the case of methanol fuel processing were studied. The microreactors were designed using dedicated microreactor models including heat conduction in the microstructured plates and mass transfer limitations in the coated catalyst layer on the microchannel walls. These microreactor designs outperformed the conventional fixed-bed designs, leading to significantly lower reactor volumes and weights. The scaling factors of reactor volume and reactor weight were larger for the microreactor systems as for the conventional fixed-bed systems, indicating that at larger scales the fixed-bed reactors will ultimately outperform the microreactor designs. Microreactor technology may be a viable alternative for conventional reactors for the design of relatively small-scale reactors in which heat exchange is important. Furthermore, the use of a fuel processor and fuel cell system showed a clear weight benefit over other fuel cell systems in applications where a large energy storage capacity is required. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 2006 AIChE Spring Annual Meeting (Orlando, FL 4/23-27/2006)