Applied Energy 173 (2016) 210–224

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

Hydrogen and syngas production by superadiabatic combustion – A

review
Muhammad Abdul Mujeebu
Department of Building Engineering, College of Architecture and Planning, University of Dammam, 31451 Al-Dammam, Saudi Arabia
International Research Establishment for Energy and Environment (IREEE), Vallikunnam, Alappuzha, Kerala 690501, India

h i g h l i g h t s

 A review on application of superadiabatic combustion for H2 and syngas production.

 Conversions of hydrocarbon fuels including biomass and hydrogen sulfide are focused.
 It covers non-catalytic TPOX, HFC, hybrid PM-catalyst reactor and SAC without PM.
 Separate sections deal the numerical modeling trends and the R&D challenges ahead.
 There is wide scope for further research on SAC reactors with and without PM.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The application of superadiabatic combustion (SAC) technology for hydrogen and syngas production has
Received 15 February 2016 been a focus of intensive research in the recent past. A lot of researches have been reported on the con-
Received in revised form 21 March 2016 version of various gaseous and liquid hydrocarbon fuels, hydrogen sulfide and biomass into hydrogen or
Accepted 6 April 2016
syngas, by using SAC. The porous medium combustion has been recognized as the most feasible tech-
Available online 15 April 2016
nique to realize SAC, and few recent studies reported to have achieved SAC even without a porous med-
ium (PM). This article compiles the works done so far in this area and suggests future directions.
Keywords:
Following the general background, the history of hydrogen/syngas production by SAC is provided.
Superadiabatic combustion
Porous medium combustion
Further developments are organized in the subsequent sections, which include all the published works
Hydrogen on SAC-based hydrogen production from hydrocarbon fuels, hydrogen sulfide and biomass. The works
Syngas on hybrid PM-catalyst filtration combustion and numerical modeling of SAC-based hydrogen/syngas pro-
Equivalence ratio duction are discussed in separate sections. Subsequently, the development of SAC reactor without PM is
Thermal partial oxidation presented, followed by summary and conclusion. This review reveals that there is a wide scope for future
Conversion efficiency research particularly on hybrid-filtration combustion, biomass gasification, hybrid PM-Catalyst reactors,
Hydrogen sulfide SAC reactors without PM, and on development of efficient reformers for practical stationary and portable
applications. Scope is also open for detailed characterizations, both experimental and numerical, with
various PM materials and structures and with variety of fuels under realistic operating conditions.
Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
2. History of SAC-based Hydrogen Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
3. Further developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
3.1. SAC-based H2/syngas production from hydrocarbon fuels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
3.2. SAC-based H2 production from H2S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
3.3. H2/Syngas Production by Hybrid PM-Catalyst Reforming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
3.4. H2/syngas production form biomass by PMC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
4. Modeling of H2/syngas production by SAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
5. Non-catalytic SAC reactor without PM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

E-mail addresses: mmalmujeebu@uod.edu.sa, mamujeebu@gmail.com

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.04.018
0306-2619/Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 M. Abdul Mujeebu / Applied Energy 173 (2016) 210–224 211

Nomenclature

Abbreviations Symbols
ATR autothermal reforming Al2O3 alumina
CFD computational fluid dynamics CO carbon monoxide
DATR dry autothermal reforming CO2 carbon dioxide
FC filtration combustion g specific flow rate of fuel-air mixture
GTI Gas Turbine Institute H2 hydrogen
HFC hybrid filtration combustion H2S hydrogen sulfide
HFO heavy fuel oil J Joule
IPM inert porous medium/media kg Kilogram
LHV lower heating value MJ Mega Joules
LCA life cycle assessment MPa Mega Pascal
LCC life cycle costing SiC silicon carbide
PM porous medium/media SiSiC siliconized silicon carbide
PMC porous medium/media combustion Tap air preheating temperature
POX partial oxidation Tmax maximum combustion temperature
R&D research and development tr residence time
RFB reciprocating flow burner vm mixture velocity
SAC superadiabatic combustion vwp wave propagation velocity
SR steam reforming vf filtration velocity
SCT-CPO short contact type catalytic partial oxidation ZrO2 zirconia
TPOX thermal partial oxidation v water fraction
UFL upper flammability limit u equivalence ratio
UIC university of Illinois at Chicago gc conversion efficiency/hydrogen or syngas yield
YZA Yttrium stabilized zirconia

6. Challenges ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

7. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

1. Introduction separated from syngas by water-shift reaction, releasing carbon

Hydrogen (H2) is the simplest element on the earth and it has
the highest energy content per unit mass (141.9 MJ/kg) of any
other fuel, and has essentially no emissions when electro- chemi-
cally converted to electricity in a fuel cell [1]. These are few of
the unique features that make H2 the fuel for the future.
Hydrogen-based power systems, such as fuel cells, are promising
clean energy technologies; however, a significant obstacle is the
production and distribution of H2 [2]. Hydrogen is primarily bound
into other molecules such as hydrocarbons, and the conversion of a
hydrocarbon into hydrogen or synthesis gas (syngas- a mixture of
CO and H2) is accomplished through either catalytic or non-
catalytic processes [3]. Hydrogen can be produced from fossil fuels
by thermochemical processes such as steam-reforming (SR), auto-
thermal reforming (ATR) and thermal partial oxidation (TPOX),
from water by electrolysis (electricity source can be renewable
energy or nuclear energy), from biomass by thermochemical and
biological processes, and from ammonia and hydrogen sulfide
(H2S) [4]. Almost 98% of the annual production of hydrogen
(mainly used in oil refineries, and for ammonia and methanol pro-
duction) is from the reforming of fossil fuels [5]. An exhaustive
review of the H2 production technologies, and H2 storage and
purification methods was provided by Holladay et al. [6], while
Abbas and Daud [5] reviewed the H2 production techniques by
methane decomposition. A recent review by Hassan and Khandel-
wal [7] has outlined the key H2 reforming technologies with speci-
fic focus on aircraft engine application. If the hydrogen source is a
hydrocarbon fuel, the immediate product of SR, TPOX and gasifica-
tion would be syngas. However, in the ATR process, the hydrogen is
dioxide (CO2) as the waste product. Syngas has attraction as a fuel
for internal combustion engines, gas turbines and high tempera-
ture fuel cells, and as a chemical feedstock for the production of
ammonia, methanol, higher alcohols, detergents and synthetic
hydrocarbon fuels [6,8,9]. Therefore, researchers give individual
importance to syngas while dealing with H2 production from
hydrocarbon sources.
Partial oxidation and auto-thermal reforming processes usually
involve a catalyst that enhances conversion, but a catalyst is prone
to poisoning and requires great care with the sulfur content of the
fuel and with particulates; the catalysts involved are also expen-
sive and prone to damage [2,10]. Furthermore, for most fuels, oper-
ating above the upper flammability limit (UFL) is essential to
maximize the H2 production; extending the flammability range
can be achieved by recirculation of heat and product, use of cata-
lysts or injection of radicals from plasma jets [11]. Thus, the
absence of a catalyst necessitates a high reaction temperature
[12], which calls for reforming processes that ensure operation
above UFL with reactor cores possessing adequate thermophysical
characteristics (particularly un-damageable). The superadiabatic
combustion (SAC), wherein the combustion takes place above the
adiabatic temperature of the reactant mixture, has been well iden-
tified as a viable option to realize reactors operating above UFL
[13–15]. It is also well known that combustion inside a porous
medium (PM) is the widely adopted mechanism to realize SAC
by facilitating internal heat recirculation, and hence is one of the
most promising non-catalytic thermal partial oxidation (TPOX)
techniques for the production of H2 and syngas [1]. The PM could
be a fluidized or a stationary bed. In a fluidized bed system, the
212 M. Abdul Mujeebu / Applied Energy 173 (2016) 210–224

incoming velocity of the gases is high enough to lift the particles;

the spouted-bed combustor introduced by Weinberg et al. [13] is
the best example of such a system. Combustion in stationary PM
occurs inside the voids of the porous matrix, either by stationary
flame combustion or by filtration combustion (FC). The heat
exchange between burning gas mixture and the PM permits the
heat energy being stored within the solid matrix, causing the flame
temperatures to be much higher than the adiabatic temperature.
The history and fundamentals of porous medium combustion
(PMC), and its diverse applications and research progress are well
documented [16–18,19–23,24].
A review by Al-Hamamre and Al-Zoubi [25] examined the
hydrogen production in inert porous media (IPM) based reformers
by TPOX, with special focus on the rich combustion of hydrocarbon
fuels and the conversion of H2S to hydrogen. Following this review,
the present article provides a comprehensive survey of the H2 and
syngas production technologies by using SAC (with and without
using a PM, and non-catalytic and catalytic). In the reminder of this
article, Section 2 presents the historical background, and under
Section 3, all the researches with hydrocarbon sources are dis-
cussed first, followed by H2 production from H2S, hybrid PM-
Catalyst reformer, and SAC-based H2 and syngas production from
biomass. Separate sections are devoted for typical modeling stud-
ies on the topic (Section 4) and development of new reactors to
realize SAC without using PM (Section 5). A summary section is Fig. 1. The spouted bed reactor for H2 production from methane [13]. 1. Hot
products; 2. Quartz reactor; 3. Insulation; 4. Bed material; 5. Feed tube; 6. Tail flare;
also provided with descriptions on the research and development
7. Methane; 8. Air; 9. Fountain; 10. Sample point; 11. Thermocouple; 12. Reaction
(R&D) challenges ahead (Section 6), followed by the conclusion zone.
section.

2. History of SAC-based Hydrogen Production

According to the established literature, the first attempt to

employ SAC for hydrogen production was reported by Weinberg
et al. [13] who experimentally proved that stable combustion
could be maintained in spouted beds with a fuel-rich mixture hav-
ing fuel concentration higher than UFL. This could minimize the
fraction of fuel used for heat release in any high temperature par-
tial oxidation, pyrolysis, or other reaction in which the remainder
of the fuel is to be processed. Thus, combustion of methane/oxy-
gen/nitrogen mixtures at equivalence ratios (u) of up to 2.34
yielded large proportions of H2 and carbon monoxide (CO), as well
as appreciable amounts of higher hydrocarbons. Fig. 1 shows the Fig. 2. The principle of RFB.
layout of the proposed spouted bed PM reactor. In a subsequent
study, Drayton et al. [14] experimentally proved that the superadi-
abatic combustion (SAC) temperatures achieved under fuel-rich maximum temperature (Tmax). Reactors with reduced aspect ratio
conditions could facilitate thermal cracking and/or partial oxida- were demonstrated to be good for higher productivity. Smaller
tion of various hydrocarbons. They fabricated and tested a recipro- PM particles (dp = 2–3 mm) were recommended for lower specific
cal flow burner (RFB) in which the premixed reactants were mass flow rates (g = 0.5–1 kg/m2 s) and vice versa. Porosity varia-
introduced into alternate ends of a cylindrical reactor containing tion did not influence the conversion efficiency (gc), while reactor
an inert porous medium (IPM) through periodic switching of the insulation thickness had remarkable effect. It was also predicted
flow direction, as illustrated in Fig. 2. Accordingly, the excess that by the addition of steam to the working mixture, the H2 con-
enthalpy of the combustion products was stored in the IPM, and centration in the product gas could be increased by 0.5–1% and gc
the periodic switching of the flow direction allowed this stored by 10–15%, while the optimum u remained unaffected. It was
energy to be used to preheat the incoming reactants. Consequently observed that the overall chemical kinetics model could be com-
the gas temperature at the ignition zone of the RFB could signifi- bined with detailed gas-phase kinetics model for the investigation
cantly exceed the adiabatic temperature of the incoming fuel mix- of detailed composition of syngas and intermediary components.
ture, and the combustion heat could be recirculated to the reactant Further developments will be discussed in the ensuing sections.
gas mixture without being diluted by the product gases.
The concept of RFB was also explored by Dobrego et al. [26–28] 3. Further developments
for H2 production from methane. They presented a comprehensive
numerical analysis to address various aspects of RFB that affect the 3.1. SAC-based H2/syngas production from hydrocarbon fuels
conversion process, such as effect of reactor scale-up and design
[28,27], and the effect of addition of steam during the partial oxi- After the introductory work of Weinberg et al. [13], Kennedy
dation process [26]. It was shown that the residence time (tr) and co-workers [14,29–35,36] were the leading researchers in
growth with reactor scale-up was compensated with decrease of the use of SAC technology for H2 or syngas production. Kennedy
 M. Abdul Mujeebu / Applied Energy 173 (2016) 210–224
(a) Stainless steel burner (b) Quartz burner
Fig. 3. Burners studied by Pedersen Mjaanes [38].
et al. [29] performed numerical and experimental analyses on the
chemical structures of FC waves in an IPM for lean and rich
methane-air mixtures. It was found that the ultra-rich SAC could
convert up to 60% of methane to CO and H2. A 2-temperature
numerical model with detailed reaction kinetics was also devel-
oped to analyze species profiles and the combustion mechanism
of the filtration waves, which was validated with the experimental
data. In their continued effort to optimize the H2 production [33],
transient FC waves in a matrix of randomly arranged alumina
(Al2O3) pellets were studied experimentally for rich and ultra-
rich methane/air waves with oxygen enrichment and depletion.
It was observed that mixtures with higher oxygen content in the
oxidizer stream (u = 2–3) generated higher amounts of syngas. A
comparative analysis of lean, rich and ultrarich combustion of
methane, ethane and propane was also done experimentally and
numerically by Toledo et al. [35,36] for u = 0.2–2.5 and with con-
stant filtration velocity (vf) of 12 cm/s. The ultrarich partial oxida-
tion had achieved SAC, which yielded syngas with gc = 60%, 70%,
55% for methane, ethane and propane. The maximum gc was nearly
50% for H2 and 80% for CO for all the fuels tested. Few of their stud-
ies were focused on producing H2 and syngas from H2S [30–32,34],
which will be discussed later in this article.
In a similar experiment Gavrilyuk et al. [37] analyzed the effect
of material of the discrete PM on the combustion wave tempera-
ture. For rich methane–air mixtures, the maximum combustion-
wave temperature (Tmax) was found to be independent of the
packing material or the mass flow rate of the gas mixture (m _ f ).
Pedersen-Mjaanes [38] studied H2 production by rich combustion
of methanol, octane and automotive-grade petrol with different
IPMs such as Cordierite foam, alumina foam and alumina beads.
Two tubular burners with stainless steel and quartz were con-
structed for the experiments (Fig. 3). The maximum gc of methanol
to hydrogen was 79% with the alumina beads and 74% with the alu-
mina foam. In a similar experiment [1] with the quartz burner, by
considering gc based on lower heating values (LHV), the syngas
yield from methanol was up to 56% with the alumina foam and
66% with the alumina bead. However the syngas production was
45% from methane and 36% from octane and petrol. Significant
enhancement in UFL was noticed for all the fuels tested, the supe-
rior performance being recorded with the alumina beads.
213
The proposed burner was also tested with methane [39], and
with different ceramics as the IPM, and the desiccant alumina
beads gave the best results. Maximum H2 production was recorded
for u = 2.0–2.5 with gc = 55% based on the LHV of the syngas. This
work was pursued further [11] to study the extendibility of the
UFL, the burner’s response to transients, and the robustness and
reliability of the PM and the burners. It was shown that stable com-
bustion of methane, methanol, ethanol, kerosene, biodiesel, octane
and petrol at fuel concentrations in excess of the rich flammability
limit was possible. The proposed burner was claimed to be suitable
as reformer for fuel cell-powered automobiles and petroleum
refinery.
Fay et al. [40] experimented two identical reactors with differ-
ent porous structures to reform methane into H2. The porous struc-
tures were Yttrium stabilized Zirconia (YZA) reticulated ceramic
with 3.9 pores per centimeter (ppc), and packed bed of 3 mm
diameter Al2O3 pellets. The H2 production and gc were significantly
better for the reticulated ceramic reactor than the packed bed reac-
tor when compared based on interstitial velocity. Also the conver-
sion in the reticulated ceramic reactor was found to be dependent
on the material properties. In their subsequent study [41], detailed
numerical and experimental characterizations were performed on
the reactor with YZA ceramic PM, with u = 1.5–1.5. Fig. 4 shows the
experimental setup employed for the study. The aim was to
explore the transient nature of the combustion wave for fuel-rich
conditions and its influence on gc. The steam-reforming zone thick-
ness was found increasing with the progress of combustion wave,
and gc was maximum in a thick, high-temperature zone.
Pei-yong et al. [42] developed a ceramic PM reactor with a
Swiss-roll heat exchanger arranged outside. It was shown that
the Swiss-roll structure and the heat storage of PM could increase
the reaction temperature to more than 1600 K, and realize the SAC
with a maximum gc of 57% at u = 2. Loukou et al. [43] studied
stationary TPOX of methane within IPM with SiSiC open foam struc-
ture and a packed bed of Al2O3 cylindrical rings, for u = 1.9–2.9.
It was shown that the better thermal properties and the higher
porosity of siliconized silicon carbide (SiSiC) matrix enabled longer
tr for slow reforming reactions to evolve toward equilibrium and
yielded syngas with significantly less soot in terms of particle
numbers and mass concentration. Very recently, Araya et al. [44]
have presented experimental and numerical studies on the effect
of steam addition during FC of methane, with the objective of opti-
mizing gc. It was shown that gc increased with increase of steam
content in the reactant mixture, and the optimum gc of 98% was
observed for a steam content of 39% compared to gc = 49% without
steam addition, at u = 1.8.
Dixon et al. [45] reported conversion of liquid heptane to syngas
by using IPM reactor with packed bed of alumina pellets; the
experimental setup is shown in Fig. 5. At constant inlet velocity
(vm), H2 production increased with increasing u, reaching its peak
at around u = 3. For a fixed u, gc increased with vm, and reached
above 80% for vm = 80 cm/s. Similar trends were observed for CO
conversion and energy efficiencies, where peak values exceeded
90% and 80%, respectively. The best range of u was found to be
between 2.5 and 3.5, and the impact of vm on the performance of
non-catalytic reforming of heptane was found to be significant
(higher vm causes higher Tmax, resulting in higher gc).
Smith [46] and Smith et al. [47] conducted experiments and
numerical modeling to convert ethanol and wet ethanol to syngas
via FC. The effects of u, vm, gc and water fraction (v) was investi-
gated; the experimental setup is shown in Fig. 6. The peak gc
was 48% at u = 4. The conversion efficiency was a weak function
of v, which indicated that wet ethanol is preferable than dry etha-
nol for syngas production because of the lesser energy required.
The H2 to CO ratio increased with increasing ,, and the conversion
to both H2 and CO increased with increase in vm. A numerical
214 M. Abdul Mujeebu / Applied Energy 173 (2016) 210–224

Fig. 4. Experimental setup in the study of Dhamrat and Ellzey [41].

Fig. 5. Experimental setup for H2 production from liquid Heptane [45]. Fig. 6. Experimental setup for PMC-aided Syngas production from Ethanol [46].
 M. Abdul Mujeebu / Applied Energy 173 (2016) 210–224
Fig. 7. Experimental PM-based Diesel reformer for Syngas production [8].
analysis was also performed based on the FC model with detained
reaction kinetics and found that the syngas production is a strong
function of vm. Furthermore, the effect of preheating on the exten-
sion of operating conditions of ceramic burner was studied exper-
imentally and computationally [48]. This study was extended for
conversion of butanol and jet fuel (Jet-A) [49–51] to syngas. The
peak H2 and CO yields from jet fuel were 42% and 56% respectively,
and the respective yields from butanol were 43% and 72%. The H2
yield continued to increase with u for jet fuel, and both H2 and
CO yields reached peaks within the tested operating range. The
results were validated with equilibrium calculations and also with
previous results for methane and n-heptane. Rai et al. [52] reported
inserting a ceramic honey comb structure as IPM inside a tubular
liquid fuel reformer for the TPOX of methanol. The best perfor-
mance of the reformer was achieved at u = 3.5.
An interesting attempt to produce Syngas from diesel by TPOX
was reported by Al-Hamamre et al. [8]. Equilibrium and kinetic cal-
culations were performed to determine the main influence param-
eters on the TPOX. Subsequently, a high-temperature residual free
diesel-air mixture was prepared, and the effect of the preheating
temperature and the excess air ratio on the evaporation process
was investigated experimentally. In the reforming part, a ZrO2
porous foam-based reformer was used to perform the TPOX, and
Fig. 8. Al2O3 – static mixture (left) and SiC foam (right) [53].
215
the performance of the evaporator was then assessed with respect
to the case without PM. The experimental PM-based diesel reformer
is shown in Fig. 7.
Their subsequent work [53] was focused on numerical and
experimental studies on the effects of air preheating temperature
(Tap), thermal load and u on the TPOX and found that u = 2.5 was
a practical limit for TPOX, and Tap had no significant influence on
the syngas composition. They also conducted experiments with
SiC foam and Al2O3 – static mixer (Fig. 8) and showed that the
performance of SiC foam was relatively better in terms of heat
recuperation and soot point.
Dmitrenko et al. [54] studied the influence of composition and
specific flow rate of methane-air mixture (g) on Tmax in the
filtration-combustion wave, the wave propagation velocity (vwp)
and the composition of the reaction products. The maximum con-
centrations of H2 and CO in the product were 25% and 16% respec-
tively and the maximum gc was 63%, while the minimum
concentration of residual methane in the reaction products was
3% in the optimum conversion regimes. Tmax was found to be
crucial for gc, as also noticed by Dhamrat and Ellzey [41]. Increase
in g and decrease in u had increased Tmax, thereby improving gc;
however the influence of g on Tmax was remarkable only up to
0.7 kg/m2 s, while the minimum limit for u was observed to be
2.8. Pastore and Mastorakos [55,56] developed two layer PM burners
for the conversion of diesel, kerosene and biodiesel (rapeseed-oil
methyl ester) to syngas. n-heptane was reformed up to u = 3, with
gc (based on the LHV of H2 and CO over the fuel input) up to 75% for
a packed bed of alumina beads. Similarly, diesel, kerosene and bio-
diesel were reformed in a zirconia foam burner with gc over 60%.
The effects of PM, thermal load and u were also studied for these
fuels. The experimental setup employed for the study is shown
schematically in Fig. 9, and the developed burners are shown in
Fig. 10.
In a promising development in the reforming of long-chain
hydrocarbons particularly in mesoscale, Thompson et al. [12]
proposed a reactor by incorporating the heat recirculation concept
and PMC. Based on the chemical equilibrium calculations for
n-heptane, they developed an experimental reactor (9.3 in. long
and with 4.6 in. diameter), which comprised preheated air, convec-
tive and conductive annular heat transfer facility, twin- fluid injec-
tors, and non-catalytic PMC, as illustrated in Fig. 11. The preheated
fuel-air mixture passes through the annular region resulting in
additional preheating and vaporization of the liquid fuel prior to
entering the innermost PMC region wherein the flame is stabilized,
allowing for higher burning speeds and thus realizing SAC. The pre-
liminary experimental results by using methane showed stable
combustion at u = 3, and their subsequent study [57] was focused
216 M. Abdul Mujeebu / Applied Energy 173 (2016) 210–224

Fig. 9. Schematic of the experimental setup used by Pastore and Mastorakos [55,56].

Fig. 10. PM burners developed by Pastore and Mastorakos [55,56].

on the design features and detailed characterization of the system
by numerical simulation with the aid of Chemkin and Fluent pro-
grams. Further experiments with fuels such as diesel, biodiesel,
soybean oil and glycerol are reportedly in progress.
The concept of RFB proposed by Drayton et al. [14] was pursued
by Dmitrenko and Klevan [58] to determine the optimal operating
conditions of syngas production from methane by experimental
investigation of the influence of the g and u on the temperature
in the reversible flow reactor and the composition of conversion
products. The concentration of H2 was maximum for u = 2.8 and
g = 1.8 kg/(m2 s). In a subsequent experiment [59] on the reversible
flow reactor, the impact of operating pressure in the reactor (PR) on
Tmax and the composition of reaction products was studied. It was
shown that for a given value of g, gc decreased with increase in PR.
In a similar study [60], the effect of volume concentration of
oxygen in the initial fuel mixture on the same parameters was
investigated and found that the addition of oxygen to the initial
mixture caused to increase gc. By using the experimental data of
this reactor, Alabbadi et al. [61] have shown that the chemical pro-
cesses in the IPM of the reactor could be modeled with good accu-
racy by the standard kinetic scheme for homogeneous processes. A
latest work by Toledo et al. [62] has conducted experiments for
production of syngas from liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), butane,
propane, diesel fuel and heavy fuel oil (HFO) in PM reactor contain-
ing fixed bed of Al2O3 spheres. The study has demonstrated the
promising potential of syngas production from liquid fuels by PMC.
As an interesting breakthrough, Toledo and co-researchers
[63–67] have proposed the concept of hybrid filtration combustion
(HFC), wherein gaseous and solid fuels are simultaneously con-
verted to H2 or syngas. In their experimental reactor as shown in
Fig. 12 [63], the PM was composed of aleatory wood pellets (acted
as solid fuel) and Al2O3 spheres, and the gaseous fuel was butane.
 M. Abdul Mujeebu / Applied Energy 173 (2016) 210–224 217

Fig. 11. Mesoscale PM reactor for reforming of long-chain hydrocarbons [12].

the Syngas yield was found to be essentially higher than that for
butane FC in an IPM.
This experiment was pursued further with natural gas and coal
[64] for a range of volume coal fractions from 0% to 75% at u = 2.3,
and a filtration velocity (vf) of 15 cm/s. The results were consistent
with those obtained in the wood-butane case; the maximum gc for
the HFC was about 55% for a volumetric coal content of 75%. Later
on [67], detailed empirical studies were conducted on the same
setup to assess the effect of addition of steam on the syngas yield.
Similar experiment was conducted [66] with propane, aleatory
polyethylene pellets and alumina spheres, for u = 1.0–1.65. A
numerical model with GRI 3.0 reaction mechanism was also
applied for the HFC, and the predictions were in agreement with
the experimental data. The maximum H2 and CO yields were close
to 48% and 89%, respectively. In another study [65], the HFC was
studied for lean combustion of methane in bed of aleatory alumina
spheres and wood pellets. The maximum gc was found to be about
99% at u = 0.3, and HFC was proved to be feasible for reforming
solid fuels into H2 and syngas. A detailed insight into the HFC
mechanism is provided by Torres and Huerta [68].

Fig. 12. The experimental reactor for HFC [63].

3.2. SAC-based H2 production from H2S

Temperature, velocity, and combustion products were recorded H2S is a main byproduct during the processing of fossil fuels
experimentally for u = 1.0–2.6. Hydrogen and CO were the such as natural gas, petroleum and coal. Even though the conven-
dominant products of the HFC of butane and wood pellets, and tional processes of decomposition of H2S produce elemental sulfur
218 M. Abdul Mujeebu / Applied Energy 173 (2016) 210–224
Fig. 13. Conceptual SAC process design for hydrogen recovery by H2S decomposition [15,30–32,34].
Fig. 14. The GIT’s lab-scale SAC reactor for H2S decomposition [70].
(S2), a significant amount H2 present is lost as water vapor; the SAC
technology greatly contributes to minimizing this loss besides
eliminating the sulfur recovery catalyst and the associated cost
and environmental threat [15]. Therefore, as the proven technique
to realize SAC, PMC has attracted researchers in the recovery of H2
from H2S. Liming and Shudong [69] discussed the characteristics
and mechanism of SAC in PM, and summarized the advances in
the H2S superadiabatic decomposition. A thermodynamic analysis
of the process was carried out and its advantages over the conven-
tional process were also highlighted. The Gas Technology Institute
(GIT) at Illinois, in collaboration with the University of Illinois at
Chicago (UIC) and other industrial partners, has been active in
developing novel techniques for the non-catalytic thermal decom-
position of H2S [70,31]. As part of this venture, Kennedy and co-
workers [30–32,34] of UIC have developed PMC based SAC reactor
for H2S decomposition and proved that by using an H2S-rich
stream as both the fuel and hydrogen source, the high SAC flame
temperature promotes rapid thermal decomposition of most of
the H2S to H2 and S2. The conceptual layout of the proposed SAC
process is shown in Fig. 13, and the lab-scale reactor developed
for the study is shown in Fig. 14.
Fig. 15. Experimental setup for H2 production from H2S [30].
They made a comparative study on the FC waves formed in an
IPM by methane and H2S, with a range of u from 1 to 2.5 and 1
to 5.5 respectively [30]. For both methane and H2S combustion,
upstream (underadiabatic) propagation corresponded to u from 1
to 1.7, and downstream (superadiabatic) wave propagation was
observed for ultrarich (u P 1.7) mixtures. Up to 60% of the
methane was converted to syngas while 20% of H2S was converted
to hydrogen. The experimental setup used for the study is shown in
Fig. 15, which employed a packed bed of alumina as PM. Another
experiment [32] on the same setup to analyze lean and rich
H2S–air mixtures (/ = 0.1–5.5) also yielded similar results.
A thermodynamic model was also developed [34] to assess the
product compositions attainable in the superadiabatic zone.
The H2S and O2 feed compositions were varied (20–100% and
21–100%, respectively), with u = 2–16, in order to optimize the
 M. Abdul Mujeebu / Applied Energy 173 (2016) 210–224
Premixed methane-air
Preheating zone:
OBSiC foam
Reforming zone:
Catalytic-packed bed
Emitting zone:
Alumina foam
H2-rich gas
Fig. 16. The principle of hybrid PM-catalyst autothermal reforming [71].
hydrogen yield. The predictions confirmed favorable H2 and low
SO2 yields in the ultra-rich (u = 6–12) superadiabatic zone,
whereas pure oxygen operation had shifted the optimum thermo-
dynamic range to u > 12. With O2, high H2 and low SO2 yields were
predicted in the superadiabatic systems with lower degrees of heat
recuperation.
3.3. H2/Syngas Production by Hybrid PM-Catalyst Reforming
A recent study [71] has focused on incorporating PM upstream
and downstream of a catalytic-packed bed for the dry autothermal
reforming (DATR) of methane. In the DATR process, part of the
chemical energy released from the reaction supplies the energy
required for a self-sustaining reaction. The schematic of the pro-
posed technique is shown in Fig. 16, wherein the upstream PM is
the preheating zone (OBSiC foam) while the PM downstream (alu-
mina foam) stores thermal energy and supports the catalyst bed
(Pt-Ru coated alumina spheres). The flame stabilization at the
interface of the PM and the catalyst bed could enhance the fuel
conversion and reforming efficiencies, particularly in the low
methane conversion condition. It was shown that the reforming
reaction with the hybrid reformer could achieve excess enthalpy
under the tested parameters. The energy loss percentage was
between 12.7% and 24.6%, while the reforming efficiency was
between 64.4% and 79.5%. It was also deduced that upstream PM
could be used as a built-in heat exchanger.
Another version of the PM-catalyst technique for DATR, is the
short contact type catalytic partial oxidation technique (SCT-
CPO), which was conceptualized in 1992 and is currently at the
level of industrial development for the production of syngas and
olefins [72]. The SCT-CPO technology incorporates the features of
heterogeneous catalysis and PMC, and the reforming is not dry.
However, the SCT-CPO reactors need to be operated at high pres-
sures (1.5–3.0 MPa), and the catalytic processes occur at signifi-
cantly lower residence times compared to other catalytic reactions
and faster than those of the free flame reactions [72]. Basini and
Guarinoni [72] have elaborated the ongoing development in SCT-
CPO for syngas production from hydrocarbon fuels, and the simi-
larities and differences between SCT-CPO and PM combustors.
The results from the bench scale experiments were utilized for
developing an industrial SCT-CPO reactor, which is likely to be
installed in parallel to an existing steam reforming reactor [72].
Use of catalytic PM for H2 was also reported in a subsequent
study [73], which has employed SiC porous matrix coated with
La – Sr- Fe- Cr- Ru based perovskite catalyst in various composi-
tions. The flammability limits of the combustion of methane and
air were explored using both inert and catalytically enhanced
219
surfaces of the ceramic PM. It was found that the catalyst coating
could lower the minimum stable u and improve the combustion
efficiency.
3.4. H2/syngas production form biomass by PMC
The use of PMC for H2 and syngas production was reported by
Yang and co-workers [74,75] who established that the PM as bed
material in the fluidized bed reactor enhances the gas production
rate, decreases tar, and promotes degradation of hydrocarbons
for gasification. In the experiments, agricultural waste (corn stalk)
was air-dried and milled to particle sizes of 0.83–1.65 mm. The
porous bed material was mixed with silica gel, zeolite and acti-
vated alumina to act as a catalytic PM, with particle size ranging
from 0.35 mm to 0.5 mm. Compared with industrial sand as bed
material, the PM was more efficient for gasifying biomass to
hydrogen-rich gas; this was attributed to the secondary cracking
of heavy hydrocarbons due to enhanced heat transfer within the
PM. The product yields of hydrogen-rich gas increased with
increasing gasification temperature. In a latest development, the
HFC technique has been employed for syngas production from
residual biomass of forestry and cereal plantations [76]. The
biomass pellets made from oat cane, wheat cane, shining gum
(Eucalyptus nitens) and insignis pine (Pinus radiata), and Al2O3
spheres formed the solid bed. Experiments were conducted with
natural gas–air mixture at u = 1.1 and also with addition of steam.
By using natural gas–air mixture alone, the usage of cereal planta-
tion residuals enhanced syngas production and maximum gc was
achieved with wheat cane. The presence of steam was found to
be unfavorable for syngas production in most cases.
Though beyond the scope of this article, the recent studies
[77,78] on the application of PMC for the cleaning of syngas pro-
duced by biomass gasification is worth mentioning. The cleaning
of syngas is one of the challenges in the biomass gasification tech-
nology [78]. In the proposed methodology, the feasibility of
destruction of tar present in syngas was tested experimentally as
well as by means of a chemical kinetics model. Toluene was con-
sidered as the tar surrogate in the chemical model, and the exper-
iments were performed in a PM burner with pure methane and
syngas and with toluene concentration in the syngas varying from
50 to 200 g/N m3. The results revealed that toluene was almost
completely destroyed for all tested conditions without affecting
the performance of the porous burner.
4. Modeling of H2/syngas production by SAC
The basic modeling approach for H2/Syngas production by SAC
is similar to that of the general PMC modeling (one remarkable
exception is that the oxidation is partial with rich or ultrarich mix-
ture), and a comprehensive account of the various modeling
approaches is available in the author’s previous work [23]. In addi-
tion to the numerical works cited in the preceding sections, few
exemplary works on this context are described here. Shabunya
et al. [79] stressed the significance of a heterogeneous model for
realistic prediction of chemical processes in the decomposition of
methane by FC. Guoneng et al. [80] employed computational fluid
dynamics (CFD) in conjunction with CHEMKIN to model the com-
bustion of H2S in discrete PM of Al2O3 spheres. The standard k–e
turbulence model and a 17-species, 57-elemental reaction mecha-
nism were used in numerical simulation. The numerical results
showed good agreement with the experimental data. The SAC phe-
nomenon was demonstrated and the production of H2 and S2 at
fuel-rich condition was verified. The proposed CFD model with
complex chemical reaction mechanism was proved to be well in
modeling the anisotropic flame of H2S in porous media. In their
220 M. Abdul Mujeebu / Applied Energy 173 (2016) 210–224
Fig. 17. The IPM reactor model for simulating hydrogen production by TPOX of
methane [83].
Fig. 18. The computational model for Swiss-roll-PM reactor [85].
extended studies [81,82], this model was successfully applied for
H2 and Syngas production from methane. A thermodynamic
numerical model based on Reynold’s Gibbs free energy minimiza-
tion using the Stanjan computation subroutine was employed by
Slimane et al. [34] for the superadiabatic POX of H2S. Pereira
et al. [83] performed numerical simulations of methane TPOX
within IPM and validated with experiments. The validity of using
a quasi-1D approach was explored based on 3D simulations of
the isothermal fluid flow through the porous solid structure.
Several fluid flow cases were taken into account with two different
porous materials (Al2O3 fiber lamellae and SiSiC foam). The
detailed fluid flow information obtained from the 3D study was
used to provide the realistic cross-sectional area variation of the
quasi-1D model. The quasi-1D 12-steps reduced chemistry model
predictions were in very satisfactory agreement with the experi-
mental data. The computational domain of the PM reactor model
is shown in Fig. 17.
Futko [84] had presented model for low velocity FC methane,
and a detailed kinetic analysis of the heat-release structure, dynam-
ics of radical formation and conversion processes under ultra-rich
conditions. Li et al. [85] presented a CFD model combined with
detailed chemical kinetics for the SAC of methane in a packed bed
of alumina spherical particles inside a Swiss-role reactor; the com-
putational domain of the reactor is shown in Fig. 18. The oxidation
model used 17 species and 58 elemental reactions, and the numerical
results were validated by experimental data.
A 2-temperature numerical model with detailed chemical
mechanism for the RFB with an external heat source in the middle
section was developed by Zheng et al. [86], to study the effect of
the variation of the power of the external heat source on the syngas
yield from methane. It was found that syngas production increased
significantly with the addition of the external heat source, reaching
to a maximum of 97%. Kostenko et al. [87] employed a 2-temperature
model for conversion of methane/oxygen/steam mixture within IPM.
The reaction kinetics model included a set of gas-phase radical-chain
reactions supplemented with the loss of radicals on the surface of
Fig. 19. Principle of the counter-flow reactor proposed by Ellzey and co-workers
[2,3,10]: (a) Internal heat circulation mechanism and (b) Prototype 4-channel
reactor design.
inert solid, formation of soot and reactions of the latter with oxygen,
water and CO2. The model employed by Thompson and Agrawal [57]
for the simulation of their experimental reactor by the combined
Chemkin-Fluent platform would be promising for small scale and
portable systems, which could be extended for a variety of hydrocar-
bon fuels. Mendes et al. [88] presented a 2-temperature model with
detailed reaction kinetics for the TPOX of methane within a small
scale IPM based reactor for maximizing gc and minimizing the soot
formation. The results showed that the optimal u is a compromise
between gc and soot formation. It was also found that the IPM length
and water addition could improve the performance of the reactor.
The modeling approach for the HFC is detailed in [68].
5. Non-catalytic SAC reactor without PM
Ellzey and co-workers [2,3,10,89,90] have developed novel
mesoscale reactors to realize SAC without the use a of PM. Unlike
the moving combustion waves in FC, the proposed counterflow
reactor offers stationary combustion wave with simplified geome-
try. Stabilization of SAC zones through internal heat circulation
mechanism within the counterflow reactor is illustrated in
Fig. 19a), while Fig. 19b) illustrates the prototype reactor.
The heat recirculation between channels with opposing flow
directions was shown to achieve reactions beyond the UFL. Exper-
iments with methane [10], propane [3] and heptane [2] showed
occurrence of stable reaction fronts at a wide range of u and vm.
With methane, the stationary combustion fronts were obtained
at u = 1.8–2.5. For constant u, operation was possible for a wide
range of firing rates, which was equivalent to a large turn-down
Fig. 20. Schematic of the Swiss-roll reformer [91].
 M. Abdul Mujeebu / Applied Energy 173 (2016) 210–224 221

Table 1
Summary of published works on H2 and Syngas production by SAC.

Year Authors Study focus

1988 Weinberg et al. [13] Spouted bed combustor for syngas production from methane
1995 Drayton et al. [14] Experiments and simulation on RFB for syngas production from methane.
2000 Kennedy et al. [29] Experiments and simulation to study the chemical structures of FC waves with methane
2000 Slimane et al. [15] Production of H2 from H2S by superadiabatic combustion- Phase 1, numerical simulation
2001 Gavrilyuk et al. [37] Experimental and theoretical studies on methane-to-hydrogen conversion
2001 Shabunya et al. [79] Analysis of experimental data of TPOX of methane by numerical model
2002 Bingue et al. [30,32] Comparison of H2 production from methane and H2S; FC of lean and rich H2S–air mixtures
2002 Slimane et al. [31] Phase 2 of Slimane et al. [15] – Experiments and comparison with numerical data
2002 Lau et al. [70] Modeling and development of bench scale reactor for non-catalytic thermal decomposition of H2S
2003 Pedersen-Mjaanes [38] Rich combustion of methanol, octane and automotive- grade petrol
2003 Futko [84] Model for low velocity FC of methane, and detailed kinetic analysis
2004 Bingue et al. [33] Transient FC waves of methane with oxygen enrichment and depletion
2004 Slimane et al. [34] Numerical study on hydrogen production from H2S to optimize hydrogen yield
2005 Fay et al. [40] Effect of PM material/structure on the reforming of methane into hydrogen
2005 Liming and Shudong [69] Thermodynamic analysis of superadiabatic decomposition of H2S
2005 Pedersen-Mjaanes and Mastorakos [39] Production of H2 from methane inside a two-layer, inert, porous media burner
2005 Pedersen-Mjaanes et al. [1] Conversion of methanol, methane, octane and automotive-grade petrol to hydrogen by alumina foam and
alumina bead PM burners
2006 Al-Hamamre et al. [8] Theoretical and experimental studies on TPOX of Diesel for the production of syngas
2006 Dhamrat and Ellzey [41] Methane to hydrogen – effect of inlet velocity, equivalence ratio, and the thermal conductivity and the specific
heat of PM
2006 Guoneng et al. [80] CFD simulation coupled with CHEMKIN combustion model for H2 production from H2S
2006 Pedersen-Mjaanes [11] Development of PM reactors suitable for gaseous and liquid hydrocarbon fuels to study various PM materials
2006 Toledo et al. [36] Comparative analysis of lean, rich and ultrarich combustion of methane, ethane and propane
2007 Dmitrenko et al. [54] Conversion of methane to syngas in a co-current filtration-combustion wave
2007; Guo-neng et al. [81,82] CFD simulation coupled with CHEMKIN combustion model for production of hydrogen from methane
2008
2008 Dixon et al. [45] Conversion of liquid heptane to syngas
2008 Dobrego et al. [26,28] Numerical study on RFB with methane
2008 Dobrego et al. [27] Three-step six-component chemical kinetics model for TPOX of methane
2009 Al-Hamamre et al. [53] TPOX of methane – Numerical and experimental studies with Al2O3 fiber structure and SiC foam
2009 Smith [46] Conversion of ethanol and wet ethanol to syngas
2009 Toledo et al. [35] Conversion of methane, ethane, and propane to hydrogen
2009 Yang et al. [74] PMC for H2 and syngas production from biomass
2009 Schoegl [89]; Schoegl et al. [3]; Schoegl and Mesoscale SAC counterflow reactor without PM
Ellzey [10]
2010 Schoegl and Ellzey [90] Numerical simulation of the counterflow SAC reactor
2010 Al-Hamamre and Al-Zoubi Review of the production of hydrogen in IPM based TPOX
2010 Pei-yong et al. [42] Design of a reactor with porous ceramics (inside) and a Swiss-roll heat exchanger (outside)
2010 Smith et al. [49] Conversion of butanol to syngas
2010 Pereira et al. [83] Numerical modeling of methane TPOX
2010 Li et al. [85] CFD simulation of Swiss-roll SAC reactor
2010; Pastore and Mastorakos [55, 56] Development of PM burners for the conversion of diesel, kerosene and biodiesel (rapeseed-oil methyl ester) to
2011 syngas
2011 Alabbadi et al. [61] Analysis of experimental data to verify chemical kinetics model
2011 Dmitrenko and Klevan [58] Experiment of RFB
2011 Smith et al. [47] Conversion of wet ethanol, or ethanol to syngas- Experimental and numerical studies
2011 Smith et al. [48] Modeling of prototype PM burners and comparison with experimental data, with methane
2011 Smith et al. [51] Conversion of Jet-A fuel to syngas
2011 Toledo et al. [63] Experiment on HFC with butane, aleatory wood pellets and alumina spheres
2012 Horng et al. [71] Hybrid catalyst-PM reformer for DATR of methane
2012 Loukou et al. [43] Experiment on TPOX of methane with SiSiC open foam structure and a packed bed of Al2O3 cylindrical rings
2012 Belmont et al. [2] Mesoscale SAC reactor without PM
2012 Toledo et al. [64] Experiments on HFC of natural gas and coal
2012 Torres and Huerta [68]. A detailed insight into the HFC mechanism
2012 Zheng et al. [86] 2-temperature numerical model with detailed chemical mechanism for RFB with external heat source
2012; Thompson et al. [12,57] Experiment and simulation on mesoscale autothermal reformer for long-chained hydrocarbon fuels
2013
2013 Dmitrenko and Klyovan [59,60] TPOX in RFB
2013 Gentillon and Toledo [66] Experiment on HFC of propane with aleatory poly- ethylene pellets and alumina spheres
2013 Smith et al. [50] Experimental study on conversion of Jet-A fuel and butanol to syngas
2013 Rai et al. [52] Use of ceramic honey comb structure as IPM for TPOX of methanol
2013 Chen et al. [91] Development of Swiss-roll SAC reactor for conversion of hydrocarbon fuels
2013 Basini and Guarinoni [72] SCT-CPO reactor
2013 Sun et al. [75] PMC for H2 and syngas production from biomass
2014 Araus et al. [65] HFC with methane, aleatory alumina spheres and wood pellets
2014 Kostenko et al. [87] One dimensional 2-temperarure numerical model for conversion of methane
2014 Robayo et al. [73] Catalytic PMC with La–Sr–Fe–Cr–Ru based perovskite catalysts for methane conversion
2014 Araya et al. [44] Effect of steam addition on gc of methane
2014 Mendes et al. [88] Numerical model for the TPOX of methane within a small scale IPM based reactor
2015 Caro et al. [76] HFC for syngas production from biomass
2015 Toledo et al. [67] HFC for syngas production from natural gas and coal in presence of steam
2016 Toledo et al. [62] Experiments for syngas production from LPG, butane, propane, diesel fuel and HFO
222 M. Abdul Mujeebu / Applied Energy 173 (2016) 210–224
ratio. In addition, increased reaction rates due to SAC resulted in a
high power density of the reactor. For propane, SAC was sustained
for u = 2.2–2.9 and vm = 37.5–125 cm/s; the corresponding
ranges for heptane were u = 2.8–3.9 and vm = 50–200 cm/s. A
2-dimensional numerical model with detailed reaction kinetics
(GRI 2.11) was developed [90] to study the reaction zone charac-
teristics with methane as fuel. This reactor was claimed to be
promising for portable power supply applications. However it is
worth noting that, the peak gc was significantly lower than that
attained via FC in PM, and this discrepancy was attributed to the
higher Tmax obtainable in the PM reactors owing to their higher
specific surface area for heat transfer compared to the proposed
counterflow reactor.
The concept of Swiss-role heat-recirculating reactor has also
been proved to be promising in achieving SAC with the use of neither
a PM nor a catalyst. Such a reactor was recently experimented by
Chen et al. [91] for syngas production. In this reformer, the reac-
tants are preheated by the POX products resulting in SAC, yielding
syngas without requiring an external heat source. The proposed
Swiss-roll combustor was compact and thermally efficient due to
the high effectiveness of the spiral heat exchanger. The mechanism
of the reforming process the reactor is shown in Fig. 20. The fuel
flexibility was tested with propane, n-heptane and JP- 8, and sim-
ilar results were obtained for the same u, with no visible soot
formation.
6. Challenges ahead
Table 1 summarizes the published literature to date, on the
researches on H2 and Syngas production by SAC. It is very obvious
that a lot of research has been carried out on the exploitation of
SAC technique for the conversion of hydrocarbon and other fuels
into H2 and syngas. However there is a wide scope for further work,
and few of the numerous areas are roughly grouped and described
as follows:
 Characterization: detailed characterization is required for all the
reported reactors with the objective of maximizing the conver-
sion efficiency. While the effect of equivalence ratio is well
established, the effects of porous material and structure, and
reactor geometry and size need further investigation for devel-
oping SAC reactors for suitable for various stationary and porta-
ble applications.
 Fuel diversity: methane, being the most abundant source of H2, is
the most tested fuel, followed by butane, propane, ethanol, metha-
nol, etc. The fuels such as diesel, biodiesel, soybean oil, glycerol
etc., and more importantly biomass, need extensive study.
 Development of reactors: most of the reported reactors are labo-
ratory level, so further researches should focus on developing
practical reactors for diverse applications. For instance, by con-
sidering the risk of hydrogen storage, onsite reforming reactors
are attractive; therefore, the works on mesoscale portable
systems need to be pursued further. On the other hand, biomass-
based studies should be extended to develop large-scale systems.
Scope is also wide for developing reactors based on reversible
flow, HFC, DATR, counterflow heat-exchanger without PM and
the Swiss-roll concept (with and without PM).
 Economic and environmental assessment: The major part of the
global H2 production is by reforming of fossil fuels, for which
the main challenge is CO2 capture and storage [92]. Economic
feasibility is another issue in commercializing most of the con-
version techniques. Therefore any effort toward developing new
SAC based reactor should include process and system optimiza-
tion based on techno-economic analysis, life cycle costing (LCC)
and life cycle assessment (LCA).
 Modeling: Modeling remains an ongoing challenge. For realistic
predictions, more studies should be done on developing
2-temperature multidimensional models with detailed reaction
kinetics for the various rectors reported.
7. Conclusion
A comprehensive and updated review of the researches
reported on the SAC-based hydrogen/syngas production is pre-
sented. At present the most effective method of H2 production is
conversion of the hydrocarbon sources. The energy efficiency of
TPOX is higher and practically independent of the power of the
reactor as opposed to SR. TPOX does not need external heat sources
and additional fluids such as water, and does not require a catalyst.
It has a good dynamic response time and can handle both light and
heavy fuels. Therefore, small-scale TPOX systems are receiving
much interest for both stationary and portable applications. How-
ever the main drawbacks of TPOX systems include soot formation
under fuel rich conditions, the slow kinetics and the decreased
flame stability at low adiabatic flame temperatures. These issues
could be effectively tackled by performing TPOX in IPM, which
offers flame speeds 20 times higher than the laminar flame speed.
The internal heat circulation facilitates preheating of the reactants,
resulting in SAC. By considering the risks associated with the stor-
age and transportation of hydrogen, onsite production is receiving
more attention. The advantage of SAC has been realized even in
reactors without PM, such as the counterflow reactor and Swiss-
roll reactor. Even though there are diverse kinds of techniques
being explored for hydrogen production, the thermal reforming
of methane and other fossil fuels will continue despite the CO2 cap-
ture and storage threat, until alternative clean technologies are
popularized. Therefore as a matured technique to combat CO2
and NOx emissions, the PMC based systems have prominence for
the TPOX of fossil fuels for H2 and syngas production. Moreover
the SAC systems eliminate the costly and poisonous catalysts. With
regard to the H2S decomposition and biomass gasification, this
technology has demonstrated excellent performance. The recent
works on HFC for conversion of solid biomass to hydrogen and syn-
gas opens doors for new researches and development of novel
reactors. However, the research needs a long way to go before
materializing SAC based systems (with and without PM, and with
and without catalyst) for practical applications.
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