CFD Modeling of Steam Methane Reformer

This paper presents the use of advanced computer simulation (coupled Computational Fluid Dynamics and process modeling) to determine the effects of burner change out in a steam-methane reformer (SMR). SMR’s are used to generate hydrogen for oil refinery operation and synthesis gas for chemical plant production. A stream of natural gas and steam reacts inside a large number of catalyst-filled tubes housed inside the SMR furnace. Burner replacement in the furnace can result in reduced hydrogen production, decreased efficiency, and unstable operation. To help select a suitable replacement burner and optimize furnace performance CFD modeling was used to identify the impact of different burners on the following key SMR design parameters: • Local heat flux profiles on the reformer tubes; • Local peak and average reformer tube skin temperatures; • Heat Flux in the pre-heat tubes; • SMR Hydrogen production and process conditions. With a replacement burner selected, the ‘coupled’ CFD model was then used to predict the burner-firing pattern that maximizes hydrogen production within the SMR design constraints.