Simulation of terrace wall methane-steam reforming reactors

Terrace wall arrangement is one of the most common arrangements for methane-steam reforming reactor furnaces. In this work, a mathematical model of heat transfer in terrace wall furnaces has been developed. The model has been coupled with a reliable chemical reaction model to predict the behavior of an industrial steam-reforming reactor. The heat transfer model is similar to the zone method models, which considers heat conduction of the furnace walls in addition to the convective and radiative heat transfer. Among different operating variables, the effect of thermal conductivity of the furnace wall and the height of the burners on the performance of the reactor have been also studied.