Review of catalytic reforming for hydrogen production in a membrane-assisted fluidized bed reactor

Catalytic reforming technology is regarded as one of the most popular hydrogen production methods. The introduction of a fluidized bed reactor provides a promising opportunity for the enhancement of catalytic reforming technology owing to its good gas-solid contact as well as heat and mass transfer characteristics. In order to improve the hydrogen production, the strengthening method of reforming technology via hydrogen membrane separation has been developed in the last years. In this paper, the development and challenge of catalytic reforming technology using a membrane-assisted fluidized bed for hydrogen production are reviewed. Some influencing factors of membrane separation such as membrane material, membrane sealing, carbon monoxide poisoning, membrane pollution and membrane arrangement are summarized. Meanwhile, some features of a fluidized bed membrane reactor such as sweep gas effect, bubble-to-emulsion mass transfer, densified zone formation and concentration polarization are reviewed. Some coupling technologies including the integration of hydrogen permeation and carbon dioxide sorption technology as well as the combination of hydrogen separation and oxygen introduction are also introduced.