Self-catalytic nickel hollow fiber membrane reactor for hydrogen production via toluene steam reforming

Metal-nickel membrane exhibits good H2 separation performance and inherent catalytic activity, making it a promising candidate as a membrane reactor in the simultaneous catalytic reforming of hydrocarbons and H2 separation. In this work, nickel hollow fiber membranes were fabricated using a spinning/sintering technology and subsequently employed in a membrane reactor for toluene steam reforming and H2 separation. The catalytic H2 production and permeation performance of the toluene steam reforming (TSR) hollow fiber membrane reactor were investigated under varying conditions, such as temperature, feed flow rate, steam-to-carbon ratio (S/C). The results show that toluene can be fully converted with a toluene feed flow rate of 1.5 μL min−1. Increasing S/C can enhance the H2 production, but excessive steam will lead to a decrease of the H2 permeation flux. The H2 yield and H2 permeation flux are 24.2% and 4.35 mmol m−2 s−1, respectively, under the conditions of S/C = 3, Ar = 90 mL min−1 and N2 = 3 mL min−1 at a temperature of 950 °C. The H2 yield and H2 permeation flux of the TSR membrane reactor did not significantly decrease within 96 h. In addition, the membrane reactor can operate stably within 62 h in an atmosphere containing 1000 ppm H2S.