Numerical Simulation of Methanol Steam Reforming ina Solar\|powered Micro\|channel Reactor

A new\|type micro\|channel reactor heated by solar radiation is designed to reduce the consumption of electric energy , and improve the efficiency of the fuel cell. With the method of numerical simulation , the influences of operational conditions on methanol steam is investigated. With the increase of the area to body ratio, the methanol conversion is promoted and the hydrogen production is enhanced, and fuethermore the temperature distribution in the channel tends to be more homogeneous . The performance of the reformer under different solar radiation intensity is tested. It is conclued that the reformer can be applied in most areas with sunshine, thus the utilization of solar radiation is practical.