CACHE Modules on Energy in the Curriculum

Fuel Cells
Module Title: Pressure Drop in a Water Gas Shift Reactor
Module Author: Jason Keith
Author Affiliation: Michigan Technological University
Course: Kinetics and Reaction Engineering
Text Reference: Fogler (4th edition), Section 4.5
Concepts: Use the Ergun equation to determine the pressure drop within a water-gas shift
reactor.
Problem Motivation:
Fuel cells are a promising alternative energy conversion technology. One type of fuel cell,
a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) reacts hydrogen with oxygen to produce
electricity (Figure 1). Fundamental to a hydrogen economy powered by fuel cells is the
generation of high purity hydrogen.
Consider the schematic of a compressed hydrogen tank (2000 psi, regulated to 10 psi)
feeding a proton exchange membrane fuel cell, as seen in Figure 2 below. We will now
focus on determining the pressure drop in a water-gas shift reactor, which is used to
generate hydrogen to be used in fuel cells.

e
H2

H+

H2
H2
H2
H2
H2

H2
H2
H2

H2 feed line

H2O

O2
H2O

O2

O2

H2O

H+

Computer
(Electric
Load)

Pressure
regulator

H+

Air in

H2O
O2

Anode
Cathode
Electrolyte

FLOW
CHANNELS
Figure
1. Reactions
in the PEMFC
FLOW CHANNELS
FLOW
CHANNELS

1st Draft
2nd

H2 tank

H2 out

Fuel Cell

Air / H2O out

Figure 2. Diagram for fueling a laptop.

J.M. Keith
Page 1

October 20, 2008

March 17, 2009

Background
Natural gas has been proposed as a source of hydrogen for fuel cell vehicle applications
because of the existing infrastructure. In a process known as steam reforming, natural gas
and steam are reacted into mostly carbon monoxide and hydrogen with some carbon
dioxide also produced. There is also excess water in the reformate stream.
A water gas shift reactor can be used to convert some of the remaining carbon monoxide
into hydrogen according to the reaction:
FLOW
CO + H2O H2 + CO2
Note that this reactor has no change in moles. Assuming it is operated isothermally, it is
straightforward to use the Ergun equation to calculate the pressure drop in the reactor.
The differential form of the pressure drop in a packed bed reactor is given by the Ergun
equation:
dP
G

dz
g c D p

150(1 )

1.75G

Dp

(1)

In this equation, the following notation and units are used:

P, pressure (lbf/ft2)
, porosity (dimensionless)
gc, 4.17 x 108 (lbm-ft)/(h2-lbf)
Dp, diameter of particle in the bed (ft)
, viscosity of gas, lbm/(ft-h)
z, length down packed bed (ft)
u, superficial velocity (ft/h)
, gas density (lbm/ft3)
G = u, superficial mass velocity (lbm/(ft2-h))
Fogler proceeds to account for the fact that the gas density is a function of the number of
moles in the system, temperature, and pressure. For the water-gas shift reaction, the
number of moles do not change. If the reactor is operated isothermally, then we have that:
o

P
Po

(2)

where o is the density and Po is the feed pressure. It is also noted that the weight of
catalyst W (lbm) can be written as:
W (1 ) Ac z c

1st Draft
2nd

(3)
J.M. Keith
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October 20, 2008

March 17, 2009

Ac, cross sectional area (ft2)

c, solid catalyst density (lbm/ft3)
Defining y = P/Po, Equations 1-3 can be combined together, with some algebra, to yield:
dy

dW
2y

(4)

where and o are constants and are given by:

2 o
Ac (1 ) c Po

(5)

and
o

G (1 ) 150(1 )
1.75G
3
Dp
o g c D p

(6)

The first term in the brackets is dominant for laminar flow and the second term is
dominant for turbulent flow.
Equation 4 can be integrated to yield the reactor exit pressure P from:
P
(1 W )1 / 2
Po

(7)

Thus, for an isothermal reaction with no change in moles, the pressure drop can be
described by Equation 7. For more detail on this derivation, see page 183 in Section 4.5
of Foglers text.

1st Draft
2nd

J.M. Keith
Page 3

October 20, 2008

March 17, 2009

Example Problem Statement: Consider a laboratory water-gas shift reactor in a tubular

packed bed of 1 cm diameter with 7.5 g catalyst. If the feed is at 5 atm and 800 K,
determine the pressure drop in this reactor. The following parameters are available:
G, 565 lbm/(ft2-h)
o, 0.086 lbm/ft3
, 0.5
, 0.91 lbm/(ft-h)
Dp, 0.1 cm
c, 76 lbm/ft3
Example Problem Solution:
Step 1) First we determine the value of o. All of the terms in the problem statement are
in the appropriate units except for the particle diameter. We have:
Dp

0.1 cm

ft
3.3 10 3 ft
30.48 cm

(8)
Substituting this and the other values into Equation 6 yields:
o

G (1 ) 150(1 )
1.75G
3
Dp
o g c D p

lb m
(1 0.5)
2
ft

h
o
lb
lb ft
0.086 m3 4.17 10 8 2 m
3.3 10 3 ft(0.5) 3
ft
h lb f

lb m
150(1 0.5)0.91 ft h

565

o 414

3.3 10 3 ft

lb
1.75(565 2 m )
ft h

lb f
ft 3

(9)
Note that this term (Equation 9) has units of pressure (lb f/ft2) per unit length (ft). It is also
noted that the first term in the brackets is dominant, suggesting laminar flow in this
laboratory reactor.
Step 2) In this step we determine the value of W which is needed in the formula for the
pressure drop. We first need the cross-sectional area, feed pressure, and catalyst weight in
the appropriate units. The cross-sectional area is:

1st Draft
2nd

J.M. Keith
Page 4

October 20, 2008

March 17, 2009

Ac

2
reactor

1 cm
cm
30.48
ft

(10)

8.5 10 4 ft 2

The feed pressure in lbf/ft2 is:

Po

lb f
in 2
1 atm

14.696

5 atm

2
144 in

ft 2

10600

lb f
ft 2

(11)

The catalyst weight in lbm is:

W

7.5 g lb m
0.017 lb m
454 g

(12)
Thus,

lb f
)(0.017 lb m )
3
2 oW
ft
W

4.0 10 2
lb
lb
Ac (1 ) c Po
8.5 10 -4 ft 2 (0.5)76 m3 10600 2f
ft
ft
2(414

(13)

The exit pressure can be determined from Equation 7 as:

P
(1 W )1 / 2 0.98
Po

(14)

Analysis: Since Po = 5 atm, the exit pressure P is equal to 4.9 atm. Thus, the pressure
drop is about 0.1 atm (1.5 psi) in the laboratory reactor. This is relatively negligible.

1st Draft
2nd

J.M. Keith
Page 5

October 20, 2008

March 17, 2009

Home Problem Statement: Consider an industrial scale water-gas shift reactor in a

tubular packed bed of 10 cm diameter with 60 kg catalyst. If the feed is at 30 atm and 800
K, determine the pressure drop in this reactor. The following parameters are available:
G, 10291 lbm/(ft2-h)
o, 0.5 lbm/ft3
, 0.5
, 0.91 lbm/(ft-h)
Dp, 1.7 cm
c, 76 lbm/ft3

1st Draft
2nd

J.M. Keith
Page 6

October 20, 2008

March 17, 2009