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Simulation of gas exothermic chemical reaction in porous media reactor with lattice Boltzmann method

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Abstract

Exothermic reactor is the main part in a chemical heat pump. It involves complex multi-component exothermal chemical reaction in catalyst-filled porous media. The lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is developed to simulate the characteristics of fluid flow, heat and mass transfer coupling chemical reaction in the exothermic reactor of the isopropanol/acetone/hydrogen chemical heat pump system. Fractal theory is used to structure a porous medium model in the reactor. The simulation results show that LBM is suitable for the simulation and the conversion has an optimal value with different inlet velocities.

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Abbreviations

CHP:

Chemical Heat Pump

LBM:

Lattice Boltzmann Method

c :

Lattice speed [m/s]

c p :

Specific heat capacity [J/(kg·K)]

D :

Mass diffusivity coefficient [m2/s]

e:

Lattice particle speed

k e :

Reaction equilibrium constant [1/Pa2]

K r :

Reaction coefficient [mol/(m2·s·Pa2)]

L 0 :

Characteristic length [m]

M :

Mole weight

Q :

Reaction heat [J/mol]

R react :

Reaction rate [mol/(m2·s)]

Δt :

Time step

T :

Temperature [K]

T 0 :

Characteristic temperature [K]

U:

Macroscopic velocity[m/s]

U 0 :

Characteristic velocity [m/s]

x :

Position in space

X :

Distribution function

α :

Thermal diffusivity coefficient [m2/s]

ɛ :

Porosity

λ :

Stoichiometric coefficient

ν :

Kinetic viscosity [m2/s]

ρ :

Density [kg/m3]

τ :

Relaxation time

ω :

Weight coefficient

eq :

Equilibrium

*:

Source term

σ :

Chemical component

ace :

Acetone

hydro :

Hydrogen

I :

Discrete velocity direction

ip :

Isopropanol

mix :

Mixture

σ :

Chemical component

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Fang Xin, Xun-Feng Li, Min Xu, Xiu-Lan Huai & Jun Cai

  2. Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100080, China

    Fang Xin

  3. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, 98 Brett Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA

    Zhi-Xiong Guo

Authors
  1. Fang Xin
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  2. Xun-Feng Li
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  3. Min Xu
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  4. Xiu-Lan Huai
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  5. Jun Cai
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  6. Zhi-Xiong Guo
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Additional information

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.51106158) and the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2011CB710705)

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Xin, F., Li, XF., Xu, M. et al. Simulation of gas exothermic chemical reaction in porous media reactor with lattice Boltzmann method. J. Therm. Sci. 22, 42–47 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11630-013-0590-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11630-013-0590-5

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