JPS61141927A - alcohol reformer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To miniaturize an alcohol reforming device, by respectively arranging supply and discharge manifolds so as to cover tube plates and attaching the circumference of the peripheral edge part of at least one of the tube plates to a combustion chamber in a state fixed to the wall thereof. CONSTITUTION:When combustion is performed by sending out fuel and combustion air from a burner 8, a liquid mixture of ethanol and water sent in a supply manifold 16 from an inlet pipe 12 receives reforming reaction in a reaction tube 2 and hydrogen-containing gas is taken out from an outlet pipe 13 through an exhaust manifold 17. In this case, the thermal expansion difference due to temp. difference generated between the reaction tube 12 and the body wall 1c of a combustion chamber 1 can be absorbed by the sliding of the shaft seal material (gland packing) 14 interposed between the inlet tube 2 and the lower part wall 1b of the combustion chamber 1 and the leakage of combustion gas can be prevented by the gland packing 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical field to which the invention pertains] The present invention relates to an alcohol reformer that heats and reacts alcohol and water to generate hydrogen gas.

[Prior art and its problems]

As a method for producing hydrogen gas, a reformer is known that heats alcohol and water to produce a gas containing hydrogen gas. A conventional reformer will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the main structure of a conventional reformer, and FIG.
The figure is a sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. In FIG. 5, a burner 8 equipped with an outlet (not shown) for supplying fuel and combustion air is provided in the center of the upper wall 1a of the combustion chamber 1. As shown in FIG.

Further, an exhaust manifold 17 is provided on the upper wall 1a of the combustion chamber to exhaust the hydrogen-containing gas produced by reforming. In the exhaust manifold 17, a plurality of reforming catalysts 9, such as reaction tubes filled with fine powders of copper oxide and zinc oxide, are arranged vertically along the combustion chamber body wall IC as shown in FIG. Pig tills 15 are connected to the bottom openings of each reaction tube 2, the other ends of these pig tills 15 are connected to a header 16 as a manifold, and the reformed fuel inlet pipe 12 connected to the bottom opening of the header 16 is used for combustion. It penetrates through the lower room wall 1b. A ventilation guide 7 is provided in the combustion chamber 1 to cover the flame 8a from the burner 8 to guide combustion gas, and an outlet 11 for the combustion gas is provided in the combustion chamber body wall IC.

From the above structure number, alcohol is added to the reformed fuel inlet pipe 12.
For example, a mixture of ethanol and water is fed into each reaction tube 2 through the header 16, and the temperature of the reaction tube 2 is raised to about 250°C by the flame and combustion gas burned by the burner 8.
When the temperature rises to a certain level, the reforming reaction is promoted in the reaction tube under the action of the catalyst to generate hydrogen, and at the same time, the reformed gas exits the reformed gas outlet 13 through the manifold 17 along with the generated carbon dioxide etc. due to combustion. A difference in thermal expansion occurs due to a temperature difference or a temperature difference between the reaction tubes, and this difference in thermal expansion is absorbed by the pig till 15. For this reason, the pig till 15 is made of a material with high toughness and corrosion resistance, and has a structure with low rigidity.

However, if the reformer is to be made smaller, pig till 1
It is necessary to hermetically weld the tube 5 to the reaction tube 2 and the header 16, but since it is small, it does not take up enough space, which makes it difficult to perform hermetic welding and reduces the reliability of the welded part. There is also the problem that the length of the pig till 15 is not long enough to absorb the difference in thermal expansion due to its small size.

[Purpose of the invention]

In view of the above-mentioned points, it is an object of the present invention to provide an alcohol reformer that can absorb differences in thermal expansion and can be made smaller.

[Summary of the invention]

According to the present invention, a plurality of reaction tubes filled with a catalyst are arranged vertically in a combustion chamber, and alcohol and water are communicated to the reaction tubes through supply and discharge manifolds. In an alcohol reformer that generates a watery odor-containing gas from a mixed liquid with alcohol, elastic tube sheets are provided at the upper and lower ends of the reaction tube, respectively, and the tube sheets are peeled off for supply.

A discharge manifold is provided, and the periphery of at least one of the tube sheets is fixedly attached to the wall of the combustion chamber, and the difference in thermal expansion between the reaction tube and the combustion chamber is absorbed by the freedom of at least one of the reaction tube and the combustion chamber. This is achieved by creating a structure that allows absorption through expansion.

[Embodiments of the invention]

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the implementation of the present invention f! 2 is a sectional view of an alcohol reformer manufactured by IJ, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1. FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3, which will be described later.

In FIG. 4, the same parts as in the conventional example shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 are given the same reference numerals. In FIGS. 1 and 2, the structure 2 and function of the burner 8, ventilation guide 7, and combustion gas outlet 11 are the same as those of the prior art, but in this embodiment, a plurality of A supply manifold 16 and a discharge manifold 17 are attached to a lower tube sheet 5 and an upper tube sheet 3, respectively, to which both ends of the reaction tube 2 are attached.

Furthermore, the upper part.

The lower tube plates 3 and 5 have low rigidity to facilitate elastic deformation. The periphery of the upper tube plate 3 is attached and fixed to the flange 1d of the combustion chamber 1.

On the other hand, the inlet pipe 12 as a pipe of the supply manifold 16 passes through the combustion chamber lower wall 1b of the combustion chamber 1 via a gland packing 14 as a shaft sealing material. Grand Patsukin 14 is a ring-shaped molded product made of a mixture of asbestos fiber and graphite and covered with cotton thread by loosely knitting the outside.
For example, it is a ring molded product made by Pulcar, and is inserted into a gland packing groove in several stages and tightened by a presser plate 14a to enable sliding of the inlet pipe 12.

A mesh plate 18 is provided at the bottom of the reaction tube 2 to allow the mixture of ethanol and water from the supply manifold 16 to flow into the reaction tube 2 and to hold the catalyst 9 therein. The combustion chamber 1, reaction tube 2) supply and discharge manifolds 16, 17 are all made of corrosion-resistant and high-temperature resistant materials, such as austenitic stainless steel.

With the above structure, fuel and combustion air are sent out from the burner 8 to cause combustion, and as described in the prior art section, the mixed liquid of ethanol and water sent from the inlet pipe 12 to the supply manifold 16 reacts. A reforming reaction takes place in tube 2 and hydrogen-containing gas is produced and removed from outlet tube 13 via exhaust manifold 17 .

In this case, the difference in thermal expansion caused by the temperature difference between the reaction tube 2 and the combustion chamber body wall IC slides in the gland packing 14 interposed between the inlet pipe 12 and the lower combustion chamber wall 1b of the combustion chamber 1. can be absorbed. The long gland packing 14 can prevent combustion gas from leaking.

Further, the thermal expansion difference due to the temperature difference between the reaction tubes 2 is absorbed by the deformation of the upper and lower tube sheets 3 and 5, which are easily elastically deformed.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of an alcohol reformer according to a different embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. In this embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the peripheries of the upper tube sheet 3 and lower tube sheet 5 of the reaction tube 2 are fixedly attached to the combustion chamber body wall IC. However, the combustion chamber body wall IC is bisected in the direction perpendicular to the center line of the reaction tube 2, and the bellows 1 is placed at this point.
0 is inserted and installed. Therefore, the thermal expansion difference due to the temperature difference between the reaction tube 2 and the combustion chamber body wall IC can be absorbed by the free expansion of the combustion chamber body wall IC in the bellows 10. Further, the difference in thermal expansion between the reaction tubes 2 can be absorbed by deformation of the upper and lower tube plates 3 and 5, which have low rigidity.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above explanation, according to the present invention, the real alcohol reformer can be downsized by providing supply and discharge manifolds covering the tube sheets provided at both ends of the reaction tube. effective. The tube sheet is fixedly attached around at least one peripheral edge to the combustion chamber, but at least one of the reaction tubes and the combustion chamber is allowed to freely expand to absorb the thermal expansion difference due to temperature difference, and the reaction tubes are connected to each other. Since the difference in thermal expansion can be absorbed by the elastic tube sheet, the thermal stress due to the difference in thermal expansion that can lead to damage to the reformer can be reduced, and a reliable alcohol reformer can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an alcohol reformer according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of A and -A in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a cross-section of an alcohol reformer according to a different embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line HB in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional alcohol reformer, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC in FIG. 1: Combustion chamber, 2: Reaction tube, 3: Upper tube sheet, 5: Lower tube sheet, 9: Catalyst, 12: Tube, 14: Shaft seal material, 16: Supply manifold, 17: Discharge manifold Figure 1, Figure 3 Figure special opening RGI-141927 (4) Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) A plurality of reaction tubes filled with a catalyst are arranged vertically in a combustion chamber, and a mixed liquid of alcohol and water is flowed into the reaction tubes through a supply manifold communicating with the reaction tubes. In an alcohol reformer that generates a hydrogen-containing gas, elastic tube sheets are provided at the upper and lower ends of the reaction tube, and supply and discharge manifolds are provided covering the tube sheets, respectively, and The periphery of at least one of the peripheral edges is fixedly attached to the wall of the combustion chamber, and the structure is such that the difference in thermal expansion between the reaction tube and the combustion chamber is absorbed by free expansion of at least one of the reaction tube and the combustion chamber. Alcohol reformer. 2) In the alcohol reformer according to claim 1, the periphery of one tube sheet is fixedly attached to the combustion chamber wall to suspend the reaction tube, and the reaction tube is arranged on the other tube sheet. An alcohol reformer characterized in that a pipe communicating with a manifold is provided passing through a wall of a combustion chamber, and a shaft sealing material is interposed between the pipe and the wall of the combustion chamber to enable sliding. 2) In the alcohol reformer according to claim 1, the periphery of the tube sheet provided at both ends of the reaction tube is fixedly attached to the combustion chamber wall, and the combustion chamber wall is attached to the reaction tube. An alcohol reformer characterized in that the alcohol reformer is divided into two parts in a direction perpendicular to the center line thereof, and a bellows is inserted into the part.