Unsteady state thermochemical performance analyses of solar driven steam methane reforming in porous medium reactor

A unsteady state thermochemical reaction model was developed by Monte Carlo Ray Tracing (MCRT) and Finite Volume Method (FVM) coupled for steam methane reforming in a porous medium thermochemical reactor. Concentrated solar irradiation was adopted as the source of high-temperature process heat. The transient state thermochemical reaction model combined conduction, convection, and irradiative heat transfer with temperature dependent thermochemical reactions. Along with modified P1 approximation, the local thermal non-equilibrium (LTNE) model was used to investigate the thermal performance of porous medium solar thermochemical reactions in order to provide more temperature information. The modified-Sutherland model for calculating thermal conductivity of gas mixture was introduced in the thermochemical reaction model to provide higher calculating precision. The temperature distribution, reactants, and products variation with time were analyzed. Effects of mixture model, sudden change of solar irradiance on the solar thermochemical reaction were also analyzed. The results illustrated that the modified-Sutherland model for calculating the conductivity of gas mixture was recommended for the thermochemical reaction analyses.