JPH06171902A - Fuel reformer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] To provide a fuel reformer capable of suppressing the amount of reforming catalyst powder produced. [Structure] Granular weight body 31 which is a spherical body made of stainless steel
And a plurality of containers 41 that tightly house the granular weight body 31 in the internal space thereof, the pressing means 40 can freely move within a limited range of the container 41 by the holding portion 41e. The uppermost surface 14 of the packed bed of the granular reforming catalyst 14 provided in the reforming tube 1 is mutually connected by the connecting means.
It is placed directly on the upper side of c. The side plate 41a, the side plate 41b, and the bottom plate 41c, which are the wall surfaces of the container 41, are metal perforated plates each having a large number of through holes having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the granular weight body 31 as its material. And has breathability. With the above configuration, even if the expansion of the inner cylinder 5 is uneven during the operation of the reformer, the granular reforming catalyst 14 in the packed bed of the granular reforming catalyst 14 is pressed by the pressing means 40 from above. By being pressed, the filling degree can always be kept uniform.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fuel in which a hydrocarbon-based raw fuel is passed through a reforming pipe, and the raw fuel is steam-reformed by a granular reforming catalyst to be reformed into a hydrogen-rich reformed gas. The present invention relates to a fuel reformer used for producing fuel gas for a battery power generator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Prior Art Steam is added from a hydrocarbon-based raw fuel such as natural gas or naphtha, and a granular reforming catalyst is used to generate a hydrogen-rich reformed gas while heating with a heating medium, and the reformed gas is As a fuel reformer for supplying a fuel cell through a carbon monoxide shift converter or the like, a fuel reformer having an improved method of supplying the amount of heat necessary for the reforming reaction was filed by the same applicant as Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-97602. It is known by.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of a conventional fuel reformer in which the heat transfer performance to the granular reforming catalyst is further improved in the above fuel reformer, and FIG. 7 is shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the reforming pipe portion as viewed from the arrow AA in FIG. Figure 6,
In FIG. 7, reference numeral 1 denotes a reforming tube having at least a lower portion thereof covered with a furnace vessel 3, and a burner 2 is arranged inside thereof. The reforming pipe 1 is a metal-made intermediate cylinder 4 that stands upright in the up-down direction, and is concentrically arranged inside and outside of the intermediate cylinder 4 with a gap therebetween, and the upper portion is joined to the intermediate cylinder 4 in a ring-shaped metal. Formed by an inner cylinder 5 and an outer cylinder 6 made of metal, respectively, which are connected to each other by upper plates 10 and 21 made of metal and whose lower part is separated from the lower end of the intermediate cylinder 4 and are connected by a ring-shaped metal bottom plate 7. . On the intermediate cylinder 4 side of the inner cylinder 5, a plurality of heat transfer fins 23, one end of which is fixed to the outer surface of the inner cylinder 5 by welding, are arranged along the circumference.

With such a structure, the reforming pipe 1 is formed with a double annular space including an inner annular space 8 and an outer annular space 9 which communicate with each other at the lower end. A raw material gas inlet 11 is provided above the outer annular space 9, and a reformed gas outlet 13 is provided above the inner annular space 8 via a reformed gas manifold 12. The inner annular space 8 of the reforming pipe 1 excluding the reformed gas manifold 12 is filled with the granular reforming catalyst 14, and the upper surface of the granular reforming catalyst 14 serves to prevent the particulate reforming catalyst 14 from scattering. The wire netting 14a is covered with a wire netting 14b for preventing the particulate reforming catalyst 14 from flowing out, at the boundary with the outer annular space 9 below the wire netting 14a.

A refractory heat insulating material 15 is arranged below and around the reforming pipe 1 at a distance from the reforming pipe 1, and guides the heat medium 24 from the burner 2 to the reforming pipe 1. The heat medium passage 16 is formed. The heat medium outlet 1 is provided above the heat medium passage 16 via a heat medium outlet manifold 17.
8 are provided. In addition, inside the upper part of the inner cylinder 5, in order to protect the inner cylinder 5 and the like from the heat medium 24 of a particularly high temperature immediately after being generated by the burner 2, a heat insulating layer 22 made of a refractory heat insulating material is provided.
Are formed.

In the fuel reformer having the above structure,
Fuel (exhaust fuel gas from the fuel cell main body during fuel cell operation) is introduced into the burner 2 from the fuel inlet 19 and burned by the combustion air from the air inlet 20 to generate a heat medium 24 as combustion gas. The heat medium 24 flows downward inside the reforming tube 1 along the packed bed portion of the granular reforming catalyst 14,
Subsequently, the heat medium passage 16 flows, and the heat medium manifold 1
It is discharged from the heat medium outlet 18 through 7. During this period, the heating medium 24 heats the granular reforming catalyst 14 mainly from the inside of the inner cylinder 5 of the reforming tube 1. The heating of the granular reforming catalyst 14 is performed from the heating medium 24 transferred to the inner cylinder 5. Is mainly performed by being transferred to the granular reforming catalyst 14 from the outer surface of the inner cylinder 5 and both side surfaces of the heat transfer fins 23. On the other hand, the raw material gas consisting of raw fuel and water vapor flows in from the raw material gas inlet 11 and flows downward in the outer annular space 9, while being heated by the heat medium 24 after heating the granular reforming catalyst 14 to form the granular particles. The temperature is adjusted to a preferable temperature for the reforming reaction in the reforming catalyst 14, and then the inner circular space 8 is folded back at the lower end portion of the intermediate cylinder 4 to face upward in the packed bed of the granular reforming catalyst 14 filled in the inner annular space 8. And is reformed into a hydrogen-rich reformed gas by the reforming action of the granular reforming catalyst 14, and passes through the reformed gas manifold 12 and out of the fuel reformer from the reformed gas outlet 13.

In the fuel reformer having the above structure,
When steam-reforming a raw fuel such as natural gas, a reforming reaction is performed at a high operating temperature, and the maximum surface temperature of, for example, heat-resistant steel forming the reforming pipe 1 depends on operating conditions. Can reach 900 to 950 ° C. Further, the fuel reformer described above is
The reformed gas, which is reformed into a gas rich in hydrogen by the fuel reformer and further reduced by the carbon monoxide shifter to have a lower carbon monoxide concentration, is supplied to a fuel cell (not shown) as a fuel.

[0008]

The above-described fuel reformer according to the prior art described above reforms the raw fuel by steam reforming with the granular reforming catalyst 14 to reform the hydrogen-rich reformed gas. Although the pledgeter can be made relatively small, the metal plate forming the reforming tube 1 repeatedly expands and contracts at the time of start-up, normal operation or stop, which causes the following problem.

For example, the temperature rising curves at the time of starting of the portion A near the lower end 22a of the heat insulating layer 22 of the reforming pipe 1 and the portion B near the inlet of the raw material gas shown in FIG. 6 are shown in FIG. On the other hand, the reforming tube surface temperature S in the vicinity of the burner rises rapidly with the ignition of the burner 2, whereas the reforming tube surface temperature T of the raw material gas inlet portion is the heat quantity of the heat medium 24 immediately after the ignition of the burner 2. The temperature rise is slow because the reforming tube 1 is spent on heating the reforming tube 1 and the like. Therefore, immediately after the burner 2 is ignited, a temperature distribution having a large temperature difference occurs in the reforming tube 1. In particular, the intermediate cylinder 4 is indirectly heated to a temperature lower than the inner cylinder 5 by several hundreds of degrees Celsius. Further, it is desirable that the granular reforming catalyst 14 operates at a predetermined temperature during normal operation, but in the case of the steam reforming described above, the granular reforming catalyst 1
Since 4 performs an endothermic reaction, the temperature of the intermediate cylinder 4 that is indirectly heated is mainly deprived of the amount of heat transferred from the inner cylinder 5 by the granular reforming catalyst 14 that performs an endothermic reaction, so that the burner 2 Immediately after the heating, the temperature is lower by several hundred degrees Celsius than that of the inner cylinder 5 directly heated by the heating medium 24 which is still hot.

As described above, both the diameter and the vertical length of the metal plate forming the reforming tube 1 are subject to thermal expansion due to temperature rise. Due to the temperature distribution having the temperature difference, the inner cylinder 5 of the reforming pipe 1 thermally expands more than the intermediate cylinder 4 of the outer cylinder 6. As a result, the packed bed of the granular reforming catalyst 14 is sandwiched between the inner cylinder 5 and the intermediate cylinder 4 and receives a pressure force in the radial direction.

Further detailed examination of the pressurization of the granular reforming catalyst 14 reveals that the heating temperature of the heat medium 24 in the circumferential direction is not necessarily uniform. In addition, the temperature at the location close to the burner 2 is not necessarily higher than the temperature at the location far from the burner 2. For this reason, it has been confirmed that the inner cylinder 5 does not thermally expand uniformly, but there is a place where the amount of thermal expansion is locally large, and the thermal expansion is performed as if it were deformed in a wave shape.

The packed layer of the granular reforming catalyst 14 in the portion of the inner cylinder 5 where the thermal expansion amount is small is pressurized as compared with the packed bed of the granular reforming catalyst 14 in the portion of the inner cylinder 5 where the thermal expansion is large. The degree of being treated is low. As a result, the packing layer of the granular reforming catalyst 14 in the portion where the amount of thermal expansion of the inner cylinder 5 is small has a larger amount of raw material gas or reforming than the packing layer of the granular reforming catalyst 14 in the portion that has undergone large thermal expansion. Gas flows faster. In addition, in the packed layer of the granular reforming catalyst 14 in the portion of the inner cylinder 5 where the thermal expansion amount is small, the granular layer from the packed layer of the granular reforming catalyst 14 in the portion of the surrounding inner cylinder 5 in which the thermal expansion greatly expands The movement of the reforming catalyst 14 causes a flow of the granular reforming catalyst 14.

Due to these factors, in the vicinity of the packed bed of the granular reforming catalyst 14 in the portion where the amount of thermal expansion of the inner cylinder 5 is small, the granular reforming catalysts 14 perform complicated motions such as collision with each other. Becomes The granular reforming catalyst 1 is produced by the above-mentioned pressing force and collision motion.
In the worst case, No. 4 is crushed to be powdered and reforming catalyst powder is produced. This reforming catalyst powder is granular reforming catalyst 1
4 increases the pressure loss with respect to the reformed gas in the packed bed portion, mixes in the reformed gas and flows out of the fuel reformer, and heat (not shown) arranged in the flow path of the reformed gas. It adheres to a conduit of an exchanger or the like and increases the pressure value required for flowing the reformed gas, and in the worst case, it becomes impossible to continue the operation of the fuel cell power generator.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object thereof is to provide a fuel reformer capable of suppressing the production amount of reforming catalyst powder.

[0015]

Means for Solving the Problems The above-mentioned objects of the present invention are as follows: 1) A reforming tube and a burner are provided, and the reforming tube comprises a cylindrical intermediate cylinder which is vertically erected, and this intermediate cylinder. The upper and lower parts of the intermediate cylinder are connected by a ring-shaped upper plate that is concentrically arranged inside and outside of the intermediate cylinder, and the upper part is connected to the intermediate cylinder by a ring-shaped upper plate. An inner cylinder and an outer cylinder, and a granular reforming catalyst filled in a cylindrical space formed between the intermediate cylinder and the inner cylinder, the burner is installed inside the reforming tube, It supplies a heat medium for heating the reforming pipe, and reforms a hydrocarbon-based raw fuel into a hydrogen-rich reformed gas by performing steam reforming with the granular reforming catalyst. In a fuel reformer, a reforming tube is filled with a granular reforming catalyst. A pressing means having air permeability is provided on the upper side of the layer, and the pressing means is composed of a large number of granular weight bodies, and 2) in the means described in 1 above, the pressing means is a granular weight body. A plurality of containers for accommodating the body are provided, the container is formed with a wall surface having air permeability, and the granular weight body is configured to be densely accommodated therein, and 3). In the means described in the item 2, the plurality of containers forming the pressing means each include a holding portion, and the holding portions are connected to each other via a connecting means. This is achieved by the structure in which the holding portions are connected to each other so that the holding portions can freely move within a limited range.

[0016]

In the present invention, the reforming tube is provided with the air-permeable pressing means composed of a large number of granular weighted bodies on the upper side of the packed bed of the granular reforming catalyst. The granular reforming catalyst in the packed bed is constantly pressed from above by the pressing means, so that the granular reforming catalyst will be sequentially pressed even if the metal plate forming the reforming tube expands unevenly. The granular reforming catalyst is almost uniformly packed because it is moved from a region with a high degree of filling to a region with a low degree of filling and is held at that position. Make the flow velocity in the bed almost uniform. This makes it possible to solve the problem that the particulate reforming catalysts collide with each other. At this time, since the pressing means has air permeability, the flow of the reformed gas is not obstructed.

The pressing means comprises a plurality of containers each having a gas-permeable wall surface for densely accommodating the granular weight bodies therein, so that the granular weight bodies are densely accommodated inside the container. It cannot be moved inside the container. Therefore, even if the reformed gas has a high flow rate, the granular weight body is held without moving. This allows
The granular weight makes it possible to constantly press the packed bed of the granular reforming catalyst.

Each of the plurality of containers forming the pressing means is provided with a holding portion, and the holding portions are connected to each other via the connecting means so that they can move freely within a limited range. The expansion of the metal plate that constitutes the reforming tube is high, so that part of the uppermost surface of the packed bed of the granular reforming catalyst rises and part of the granular reforming catalyst is removed from the reforming tube. Even if there is a possibility of overflowing, the packed bed of the granular reforming catalyst is pressed at its uppermost surface according to the shape of the uppermost surface by the bottom surface of the container containing the granular weight body which is the pressing means. By doing so, the uppermost surface can be maintained as a substantially uniform surface.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Embodiment 1; FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of a reforming pipe portion of a fuel reformer according to an embodiment corresponding to claim 1 of the present invention.
5, the same parts as those of the conventional fuel reformer shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 30 is a pressing means formed by a large number of granular weight bodies 31 which are spherical bodies made of stainless steel. The pressing means 30 is directly formed on the uppermost surface 14c of the packed layer of the granular reforming catalyst 14 packed in the reforming tube 1. Since the present invention has the above-mentioned configuration, the packed layer of the granular reforming catalyst 14 is constantly pressed by the pressing means 30 from the upper part thereof. As a result, when the reformer is operated, even if the inner cylinder 5 undergoes non-uniform thermal expansion such that it deforms like a wave due to non-uniform expansion, the pressing force of the pressing means 30 heats the granular reforming catalyst 14. By gradually moving from a region having a large expansion to a region having a small expansion and acting so as to hold it at that position, the filling degree of the particulate reforming catalyst 14 can be kept substantially uniform.

As a result, the flow velocity of the raw fuel gas or the reformed gas in the packed bed of the granular reforming catalyst 14 becomes substantially uniform, and the problem that the granular reforming catalysts 14 collide with each other can be solved. . At this time, the pressing means 30 is formed by the spherical granular weight bodies 31, and a gap is formed between the granular weight bodies 31 to hinder the flow of the reformed gas. There is no.

Example 2 FIG. 1 shows claims 1 to 3 of the present invention.
3 is a partially cutaway cross-sectional view of a reforming pipe portion of a fuel reformer according to an embodiment corresponding to No. 3, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the BB cross section in FIG. FIG. 3 shows the pressing means shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, (a) being P in FIG.
3B is a bottom view of FIG. 3A, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the Q portion of FIG. 2 taken along the line C-C. 1 to 4,
The same parts as those of the fuel reformer according to one embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 5 and the conventional fuel reformer shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 are designated by the same reference numerals, The description is omitted.

In FIGS. 1 to 4, reference numeral 40 denotes a pressing means composed of a granular weight body 31 and a container 41 for tightly accommodating the granular weight body 31 in its internal space. Container 4
Reference numeral 1 denotes a side plate 41a having a U-shaped cross section that forms three side walls of the container 41, a flat side plate 41b that forms the remaining one side wall of the container 41, a bottom plate 41c, and an upper plate 41d.
It consists of and. Side plate 41a, which is a wall surface, side plate 41
Both the b and the bottom plate 41c are made of a metal perforated plate having a large number of through holes having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the granular weight body 31 on the entire surface of the plate, and are provided with air permeability. I am supposed to. Further, the upper plate 41d is a metal plate having no through hole, or a through hole having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the granular weight body 31 is provided only in a portion where the granular weight body 31 is housed. Use a metal plate. The upper plate 41d has a thickness;
t1 and the width dimension of the storage portion of the granular weight body 31 of the container 41;
It has a width dimension W2 that is longer than W1, thereby forming a portion protruding from both sides of the width dimension W1 storage portion to form a holding portion 41e. Both holding portions 41e, 4
A through hole 41f is formed in each 1e. The widths of these through holes 41f are L1 and L2, respectively.
The width L1 of one of the reforming tubes 1 parallel to the circumferential direction is larger than the width L2 of the other so-called elongated hole.

The container 41 of the pressing means 40 has four
A gap is provided between each side wall of the surface, the intermediate cylinder 4, the inner cylinder 5, and the heat transfer fins 23 included in the reforming tube 1,
In the space formed by the intermediate cylinder 4, the inner cylinder 5, and the heat transfer fins 23, the pressing means 40 can move forward and backward and left and right to some extent. Also,
This gap is selected to be smaller than the diameter of the granular reforming catalyst 14 so that the granular reforming catalyst 14 does not flow out from this gap.

A plurality of pressing means 40 having the above-described structure are directly mounted on the uppermost surface 14c of the packed layer of the granular reforming catalyst 14 so as to be connected to each other at the through hole 41f.
The connecting means 50 for connecting the pressing means 40 to each other is a bolt 51 having a diameter of d1 having a male thread, and two nuts 5 having a screw corresponding to the male thread of the bolt 51.
2, 53. The bolt 51 has through holes 41f, 4 provided in the two pressing means 40 adjacent to each other.
1f, the nut 52 is mounted on the bolt 51, and the distance between the nut 52 and the head 51a of the bolt 51; l1 is set to be longer than 2.times.t1. The nut 53 is set by tightly tightening the nut 52 in order to fix the position of the nut 52. As a result, between the pressing means 40 and the connecting means 50, there is formed a play in the lengthwise direction of the bolt 51 having a dimension of l2 = l1− (2 × t1). Also, the diameter of the bolt 51 (d1)
Is set to be smaller than the narrow width dimension of the through hole 41f; L2, and the pressing means 40 and the connecting means 50 also form a play in the radial direction of the bolt 51.

Since the present invention has the above-described structure, since the granular weight bodies 31 are densely housed in the inner space of the container 41, the granular weight bodies 31 are directly used in the granular reforming catalyst 14.
In the case of the above-described first embodiment formed on the uppermost surface 14c of the packed bed, the reformed gas has a high flow rate, so that at least a part of the granular weight body is subjected to the levitation force of the reformed gas. Even when the pressing force is reduced by moving 31 upward, the granular weight body 31 is held in the internal space of the container 41 without moving. As a result, the packed bed of the granular reforming catalyst 14 becomes the pressing means 40.
The bottom surface 41g of the container 41 is always pressed.

Further, the container 41 of the pressing means 40 has a through hole 41f provided in the upper plate 41d of the containers 41 adjacent to each other.
41f comrades, by the connecting means 50, a play of a dimension l2 in the vertical direction and a play of a width dimension (L2) -a diameter dimension (d1) in one lateral direction of the reforming tube 1, which is the radial direction. The gap
In addition, in the other lateral direction which is the circumferential direction of the reforming tube 1, a play of width dimension (L1) -diameter dimension (d1) is formed, and the pressing means 40 is within the above-mentioned play range. They are connected to each other with three-dimensional freedom. By this,
Even if the reforming tube 1 expands and contracts in the circumferential direction, its position is maintained, and the granular weight 31 is directly formed on the uppermost surface 14c of the packed layer of the granular reforming catalyst 14 as described above. In the case of Example 1, since the wavy deformation of the inner cylinder 5 due to the uneven expansion causes extremely uneven thermal expansion, even if the pressing force by the granular weight body 31 is applied, the granular reforming catalyst 14 Even in the case where a part of the uppermost surface 14c of the packed bed may rise and a part of the granular reforming catalyst may overflow from the reforming tube, the pressing means 40 is provided with the bottom surface 4 of the container 41.
1 g of the uppermost surface 14c of the packed bed of the granular reforming catalyst 14
Is pressed perpendicularly to the deformed surface. This allows
The packed layer of the granular reforming catalyst 14 is constantly pressed while the deformation of the uppermost surface 14c thereof is suppressed within the allowable range.

As a result, even when the wavy deformation of the inner cylinder 5 is remarkable, the flow velocity of the raw fuel gas or the reformed gas in the packed bed of the granular reforming catalyst 14 becomes substantially uniform, and the granular reforming catalysts 14 are mutually separated. It is possible to solve problems such as collision. At this time, the container 41 of the pressing means 40
Is made of a metal perforated plate and has a granular weight body 3
Since 1 is formed by a sphere, and the gap is formed in the pressing means 40, the flow of the reformed gas is not obstructed.

In the above description, the granular weight 31 is a spherical body made of stainless steel, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the packed bed of the granular reforming catalyst 14 is pressed,
In addition, as long as a gap is formed, it may have an appropriate material and an appropriate shape. Further, in the description so far, the wire net 14a is not attached to the uppermost surface 14c of the packed layer of the granular reforming catalyst 14, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the uppermost surface of the packed layer of the granular reforming catalyst 14 is not limited to this. The wire net 14a may be attached to 14c. In this case, it is preferable that the wire netting 14a has flexibility.

Furthermore, the connecting means 50 is a bolt 51.
And the two nuts 52 and 53, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the nut is 1
Alternatively, in this case, a spacing tube having a length of l1 is used, or the diameter of the male thread of the bolt 51 is a diameter dimension; d1.
The diameter of the portion d1 is smaller than that of the portion d1, and the length of the portion d1 is set to l1.

[0031]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION In the present invention, the reforming pipe is provided with a gas permeable pressing means composed of a large number of granular weights on the upper side of the packed bed of the granular reforming catalyst. Even if the expansion of the metal plate forming the tube is non-uniform, the granular reforming catalyst in the granular reforming catalyst packed bed is pressed by the pressing means from the upper part thereof, so that the granular reforming catalyst is The filling degree is almost uniform. As a result, the granular reforming catalyst is less likely to be pressed by the metal plate that constitutes the reforming tube and the granular reforming catalysts from colliding with each other. It becomes possible to do.

The pressing means has a structure in which a plurality of containers having air-permeable wall surfaces for densely accommodating the granular weight bodies therein are provided, so that the granular weight bodies are densely accommodated inside the container. As a result, the granular weight body is held without moving. This makes it possible to press the packed bed of the granular reforming catalyst with the granular weight body at all times even when the reforming gas has a high flow velocity while providing the above-described actions and effects.

Each of the plurality of containers forming the pressing means is provided with a holding portion, and the holding portions are connected to each other via the connecting means so that they can move freely within a limited range. The expansion of the metal plate that constitutes the reforming tube is high, so that part of the uppermost surface of the packed bed of the granular reforming catalyst rises and part of the granular reforming catalyst is removed from the reforming tube. Even if there is a possibility of overflowing, the packed layer of the granular reforming catalyst, the uppermost surface is always pressed uniformly by the container containing the granular weight body which is the pressing means, While having the actions and effects described above,
The effect is that the uppermost surface of the packed bed of the granular reforming catalyst can be maintained as a substantially uniform surface.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of a reforming pipe part of a fuel reformer according to one embodiment of the present invention, which is partially broken away.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view in which a part of the BB section in FIG. 1 is omitted.

FIG. 3 (a) of the pressing means shown in FIGS.
In FIG. 3, a partially cutaway side view seen from the arrow P, (b) is a bottom view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the Q section of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of a reforming pipe portion of a fuel reformer according to an embodiment corresponding to claim 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of a conventional fuel reformer.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the reforming pipe section as seen from the arrow AA in FIG.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing a temperature rising characteristic of the reforming pipe portion at the time of starting the fuel reformer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 reforming pipe 2 burner 14 granular reforming catalyst 14c uppermost surface of packed bed of granular reforming catalyst 30 pressing means 31 granular weight body 40 pressing means 41 container 41a wall surface (side plate) 41b wall surface (side plate) 41c wall surface (bottom plate) 41e holding part 41g bottom of container 50 connecting means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A reforming pipe and a burner are provided, wherein the reforming pipe is arranged in a concentric shape with a cylindrical intermediate cylinder standing upright in the up-down direction and a space between the inside and outside of the intermediate cylinder. An inner cylinder and an outer cylinder that are connected to each other with a ring-shaped upper plate that connects the upper portion to the intermediate cylinder and that connects the lower portion from the lower end of the intermediate cylinder with a ring-shaped bottom plate; the intermediate cylinder and the inner cylinder; And a granular reforming catalyst filled in a cylindrical space formed between the burner, the burner being installed inside the reforming tube, and supplying a heat medium for heating the reforming tube. The granular reforming catalyst reforms a hydrocarbon-based raw fuel into a reformed gas rich in hydrogen by performing steam reforming. A pressing means having air permeability is provided above the packed bed of the reforming catalyst, Pressure means is comprised of a number of granular weight body, a fuel reformer, characterized in that. 2. The fuel reformer according to claim 1, wherein the pressing means comprises a plurality of containers for accommodating the granular weight bodies, and the containers are formed by providing a wall surface having air permeability. The fuel reformer is characterized in that the granular weight body is tightly housed therein. 3. The fuel reformer according to claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of containers forming the pressing means includes a holding portion, and the holding portions are connected to each other via the connecting means. The fuel reformer, wherein the connecting means connects between the holding parts so that the container can freely move within a limited range.