Numerical simulation in a catalytic reactor considering three-dimensional pellet catalyst geometry

Abstract

The catalytic reactions converting carbon into reusable fuel materials is one of the key technologies in carbon recycling. Numerical simulations have been conducted to study the catalytic reactors including multi-step chemical reactions, flow, reaction heat, heat transfer, and diffusion. In most models, however, the microstructure of the catalyst bed are often treated as a homogeneous body, making it difficult to evaluate the effects of the differences in pellet shapes. In this study, we have developed the macroscopic homogenization model combined with the three-dimensional microstructure in the catalyst bed in order to predict complex phenomena in the reactor. The model validation has been also performed with the actual experiments of catalytic reactions. Furthermore, the effects of different pellet shapes on the temperature, flow field, and reaction field in the reactor were compared.