A method of tracking use of catalyst carriers within a tubular reactor, the tubular reactor comprising a plurality of reactor tubes, each reactor tube being configured to receive a plurality of catalyst carriers, the method comprising for each of at least some of the catalyst carriers, the steps of: marking the catalyst carrier with a carrier identifier; reading the carrier identifier when installing the catalyst carrier into a reactor tube; and accessing a database to retrieve and/or record installation data associated with the identified catalyst carrier.

A hydrogen generation apparatus applies a solid hydrogen carrier on a surface of a conveyance belt by an application apparatus, and ejects, by an ejection apparatus, a liquid containing water onto the hydrogen carrier applied on the surface. Then, hydrogen generated by a reaction between the hydrogen carrier and the liquid on the surface is collected by a hydrogen collection apparatus. Byproduct generated by the reaction between the hydrogen carrier and the liquid on the surface is collected by a byproduct collection apparatus. A regulation member regulates the thickness of the hydrogen carrier applied on the surface of the conveyance belt by the application apparatus.

The present invention relates to an arrangement of a tube-bundle reactor (1) and a sensor device (2), wherein the tube-bundle reactor (1) comprises a bundle of vertically arranged reaction tubes (3), which are open on top through upper openings and are fillable with particles of a catalyst material (4). The sensor device (2) comprises an ultrasonic sensor (6) and an evaluation device (7), wherein the ultrasonic sensor (6) is designed to emit an ultrasonic signal from above into one of the reaction tubes (3) and to receive the ultrasonic signal reflected in the reaction tube (3). The evaluation device (7) is coupled with the ultrasonic sensor (6) via a data connection (8) and is designed to ascertain the distance of the surface of the particles of the catalyst material (4) received by the one reaction tube (3) to the ultrasonic sensor (6) from the time-of-flight of the received ultrasonic signals and to ascertain a fill level height of the catalyst material (4) in the reaction tube (3) therefrom.

A filling device (1) for filling a container with a particulate material (28) comprises a supply container (2) that can be filled with the particulate material (28), wherein the supply container (2) has a lower opening (2.2). Moreover, the filling device (1) comprises a radial distribution unit (3), which can be supplied with the particulate material via the lower opening (2.2) of the supply container (2) and which is connected to the supply container (2) in such a way that it can rotate about a rotational axis (A), in order to distribute in the container the particulate material (28) supplied from the supply container (2) to the distribution unit (3). The filling device is characterized in that the distribution unit (3) can be driven by a drive unit (4) that is arranged outside the supply container (2).