Production of hydrogen from methane and methane/steam in a microwave irradiated char-loaded reactor

The production of hydrogen by the decomposition of pure methane and methane/steam mixtures in a microwave-irradiated fixed bed reactor packed with devolatilized coal char was studied. Input power levels from 600-3500 W were used. Low conversions were obtained for pure methane as the feed, but 1:1 molar ratio mixtures of methane and steam gave high conversions. The effects of power level and feed flow rate were determined for the methane/steam case. Additionally, microwave heating and conventional heating were compared for the methane/steam case. Microwave heating was found to require temperatures 30-50 degrees C lower to give the same methane conversions obtained with conventional heating, over a conversion range of 18-53%. Thus, it may be concluded that microwave heating promotes the methane/steam reaction in some type of unique manner.