Kinetic and Transport Modeling of a Dry Methane Reforming Reactor in a Parabolic Trough Solar Collector

Dry reforming of methane driven by solar thermal energy is a potential pathway towards decreasing methane emissions while increasing the potential revenue stream of oil extraction and refining operations. These aims would be achieved by converting methane that would otherwise be vented and flared into syngas, which can be further converted into higher C hydrocarbons. We envision a plant that is located on or near a natural gas well. It would convert flare gas up until the well runs dry and then be transported to the next well. Such a system necessitates solar collectors that are economical and easily transportable between wellheads. Parabolic trough solar collectors fit these requirements. However, whether a parabolic trough receiver-reactor configuration would achieve suitable conversions of methane is unclear. In this work, a coupled optical-multiphysics model of a dry reforming reactor in a parabolic trough solar collector was developed and tested along with a preliminary system model. Our results indicate that using parabolic troughs requires aperture sizes larger than what is commercially available for parabolic troughs. Operating at elevated pressures, while fitting both upstream and downstream processes, requires higher concentration ratios than achievable using commercial parabolic troughs to avoid a heat-transfer limited regime which lowers the methane conversion.