(240f) Experimental Analysis of the Partial Oxidation of Hexadecane in a Hydrothermal Tubular Reactor

Yousef M. Alshammari, and Klaus Hellgardt

Department of Chemical Engineering, South Kensington Campus, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ, UK

Abstract

Steam reforming of hydrocarbons is a major process for supplying hydrogen and syngas for various energy and chemical applications. One novel approach for hydrogen production is the conversion of hydrocarbons underground under downhole hydrothermal conditions. Hydrothermal systems may provide unique processing properties including enhanced heat and mass transfer, faster reactions rates, in addition to the environmental benefits of using water as a green solvent [1]. We previously reported the thermodynamic analysis [2,3] and noncatalytic experimental investigation of hydrothermal reforming of hexadecane, a heavy hydrocarbon model, under nonoxidative conditions [4]. This work reports the first parametric investigation of the partial oxidation of hexadecane in hydrothermal tubular flow reactor system shown in Figure 1. The effects of residence time, temperature, and oxygen to carbon ratio on the conversion of hexadecane and product distribution are being investigated with the aim of developing a kinetic model and understanding the gasification reactions of hydrocarbons under downhole conditions. Compared with our previous work on nonoxidative reforming of hexadecane, we report the effect of introducing oxygen into the reactor system to initiate an adiabatic reforming reaction raising the initial reservoir temperature, as shown in Figure 2, which increases the overall gasification efficiency.

Figure 1. Schematic of the hydrothermal tubular flow reactor system

Figure 1. Adiabatic temperature profile from partial oxidation of hexadecane for different mass concentrations of H₂O₂

References

[1] GUO, Y., WANG, S. Z., XU, D. H., GONG, Y. M., MA, H. H. & TANG, X. Y. 2010. Review of catalytic supercritical water gasification for hydrogen production from biomass. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 14,334-343

[2] ALSHAMMARI, Y. M. & HELLGARDT, K. 2012. Thermodynamic analysis of hydrogen production via hydrothermal gasification of hexadecane. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 37,5656-5664.

[3] ALSHAMMARI, Y. M. & HELLGARDT, K. Reservoir-Based Hydrothermal Reforming of Hydrocarbons. AIChE Annual Meeting 2010, Salt Lake City, UT, USA, 2010, (363e).

[4] ALSHAMMARI, Y. M. & HELLGARDT, K. Continuous-Flow Reforming of Hydrocarbons Underground: Kinetic Analysis. AIChE Annual Meeting 2011, Minneapolis, MN, USA, 2011, (713f).