The development of efficient low-emission power plants for heat production in domestic power supply holds promise for modern power engineering [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8].One of the solutions to this problem is to use catalysts for hydrocarbon fuel combustion. In this case, CO and NO x emissions are almost zero and the energy conversion efficiency in water-heating systems reaches 96-98%. In our previous works [2][3][4][5][6], to produce heat by catalytic combustion of natural gas, we proposed a radial heating element that comprised a structured porous metal catalyst bed sintered with a tubular heat exchanger (which was also radial). Tests of this heating element showed its promise for efficient and environmentally clean heat production. Therefore, in this work, this type of reactor was theoretically and experimentally studied in detail.
EXPERIMENTALA schematic and picture of the catalytic heating element are shown in Fig. 1. The catalytic heating element has a cylindrical shape and consists of ring-type tubular heat exchanger 1 within which is perforated gas-distribution tube 2 . Through this tube, an air-gas mixture is fed. Around the gas-distribution tube, splitter 3 is placed for better gas distribution and suppression of jets bursting forth from holes. Catalytically active bed 4 has a regular structure and consists of flat metal bands 5 and corrugated metal bands 6 that are wound on tubes of heat exchanger 1 and sintered with these tubes. The bands are gas-permeable and form catalytically active channels 2.5 mm in diameter. The bands are ~1 mm thick and 25 mm wide, the pitch is 27.5 mm, and the gap between bands is 2.5 mm. The innermost band and the outermost band are flat, and the bands between them are alternately flat and corrugated. Each band overlaps the previous band, being shifted by the pitch length. To reduce heat loss, the catalyst bed is wider than the tubular heat exchanger by the width of barrels 7 , which are heat-insulated from heat-exchanger headers 8 . To feed the cold water and remove the heated water, the catalytic heating element is equipped with pipe connections 9 and 10 , respectively. To reduce the heating element starting time, the corrugation size in outer catalyst bed 11 exceeds the critical channel size for flame to penetrate the porous structure.In the experiments, we determined the temperature distributions along the length (axis) and thickness (radius) of the cylindrical catalyst bed; simultaneously, we measured the concentrations of ëç 4 , CO, and NO x in the exhaust gases and the water temperatures at the inlet and outlet of the heat exchanger, with the flow rates of methane and air fed to the heating element being varied. The experimental conditions and the heat output are presented in Table 1.The experimental temperature distribution on the outer surface of the catalyst bed along the length (axis) of the catalytic heating element (under conditions 1 in Table 1) is shown in Fig. 2. The temperature was measured at three points in a bed section. The thermocouple junctions were plac...