Experiments of dimethyl ether autothermal reforming optimization

디메틸에테르(DME) 자열개질 운전조건 최적화에 관한 연구

Dimethyl ether (DME) is an attractive fuel as a hydrogen carrier for mobile PEMFC applications. However, its reforming technologies are rarely studied especially by using autothermal reforming (ATR) method. This work explored the impact of operating conditions to the performance of DME ATR. Temperature, Steam to carbon ratio(SCR), Oxygen to carbon ratio(OCR) and Gas hourly space velocity(GHSV) were considered as the operating conditions. As results, conversion efficiency was increased as the temperature increased, but saturated around $700^{\circ}C$. There was no significant effect of SCR on conversion efficiency, but high SCR led reactions in endothermic manner. High OCR substantially suppressed conversion efficiency, but it helped to sustain the temperature by stimulating exothermic reactions. Conversion efficiency was decreased as GHSV increased. The optimized operating conditions was suggested: $700^{\circ}C$, SCR of 1.5, OCR of 0.45 and GHSV below 15000/h and conversion efficiency was ~85% at the conditions.