Syngas production via methane steam reforming with oxygen: plasma reactors versus chemical reactors

Steam reforming with oxygen (SRO) is a combination of non-catalytic partial oxidation and steam reforming of methane, industrially used for syngas production. There are several models of the chemical reactors used for this purpose but in the last decade a new direction has developed-plasma devices. The aim of the present paper is to make a comparative analysis between the autothermal reformers, including their improved variants, and the plasma reactors. The study is conceived in terms of advantages and disadvantages coming from the exploitation parameters, methane conversion, selectivity, energy efficiency and investment costs. Although SRO by means of chemical reactors may be the most efficient, plasma reactors represent an incisive approach by their simplicity, compactness and low price.