Intensification of ultra-lean catalytic combustion of methane in microreactors by boundary layer interruptions- a computational study

Hunt, G. , Karimi, N. and Mehdiadeh, A. (2021) Intensification of ultra-lean catalytic combustion of methane in microreactors by boundary layer interruptions- a computational study. Chemical Engineering Science, 242, 116730. (doi: 10.1016/j.ces.2021.116730)

Abstract

Oxidation of an ultra-lean mixture of methane and air over a platinum catalyst at the constant temperature of 1000 K is investigated numerically in several microreactor configurations featuring different hydrodynamics. These include a straight microchannel with the catalyst coated on the walls and a few wavy microchannels with continuous and discretised catalytic coating. The surface generated CO2 is selected as the indicator of catalytic activity and is evaluated along the catalytic surfaces and the outlet of reactor. It is shown that separation and reattachment of the boundary layer significantly alters the catalytic activity by modifying the structure of concentration boundary layer. Comparison of a strategically coated wavy microchannel with a straight microchannel, with accounting for the residence time, yields an increase of up to 400% in the production rate of CO2. It is argued that the observed hydrodynamic effects upon catalytic activities could help designing highly improved catalytic microreactors.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Hunt, Dr Graeme and Karimi, Dr Nader

Creator Roles

Hunt, G.: Investigation, Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft
Karimi, N.: Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing – review and editing

• Authors: Hunt, G., Karimi, N., and Mehdiadeh, A.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering; College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Systems Power and Energy
• Journal Name: Chemical Engineering Science
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0009-2509
• ISSN (Online): 1873-4405
• Published Online: 04 May 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Chemical Engineering Science 242: 116730
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
190790		EPSRC DTG 2014	Mary Beth Kneafsey	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/M506539/1	Research and Innovation Services