Evaluating Catalytic Fixed‐Bed Reactors for Dry Reforming of Methane with Detailed CFD

Abstract

A rigorous modeling of catalytic fixed‐bed reactors with spherical and non‐spherical particles is presented. The spatially resolved randomly distributed particles allow a comprehensive description of the interstitial flow. The detailed fluid dynamics are coupled with a detailed reaction mechanism of the heterogeneous dry reforming of methane (DRM). Three different kinds of particles of typical industrial dimensions are evaluated under characteristic reaction conditions toward conversions and yields of the DRM. It was found that the fixed bed consisting of cylindrical particles shows the highest conversions and yields. On the contrary, the one‐hole cylinder packing exhibits a low performance. With this modeling transport phenomena inside fixed beds can be fully addressed and finally, a substantial quantitative comparison between different packings is possible.

Multiscale modeling of fixed-bed reactors with porous (open-cell foam) non-spherical particles: Hydrodynamics

“…In literature, there exists a large variety of numerical studies on packed bed reactors consisting of solid spherical particles [4][5][6][7][8][9] and a few for non-spherical particles [10][11][12][13][14]. For those studies, flow through the interstitial space between the particles is resolved and the characteristic length scale for the flow remains more or less the same throughout the bed.…”

Modeling and Validating Fixed‐Bed Reactors: A State‐of‐the‐Art Review

“…At present, however, the computational effort is too high to model an entire fixed‐bed reactor with all phenomena occurring on the various scales or even dynamic processes. , …”

“…In these cases, it is assumed that there are no diffusion limitations and that the reaction takes place on the surface at evenly distributed active centers. The real surface of the catalyst particle is represented by a surface enlargement factor , . However, the influence of the processes in the pore can have a significant effect on the simulation results , .…”

“…The calculation of entire reactor geometries or transient processes has not been possible until today. , …”

Fiber‐Optic Temperature Measurements in Fixed‐Bed Reactors for Model‐Based Evaluation of Effective Radial Thermal Conductivity

“…Die Arbeiten, die nach der Neuevaluierung von Winterberg entstanden sind, stellen überwiegend eine Mischung aus α w ‐ und Λ r ( r )‐Modell dar, beruhen auf einem heterogenen Ansatz oder verwenden eine vollständige computergestützte Strömungsberechnung (CFD). Dies bringt einen sehr hohen Rechenaufwand mit sich und ist für die Berechnung eines gesamten Festbettreaktors oder gar dynamischer Vorgänge derzeit nur bedingt praktikabel , .…”