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Numerical analysis of multiphase flow in chemical looping reforming process for hydrogen production and CO2 capture

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Abstract

The unsteady characteristics of bubble dynamics inside the air reactor within the first 0–40 s of reforming has always been studied for defining the design criteria of the reactor. In the study, a temporal aspect of the hydrodynamics and chemical kinetics in the reactor of a chemical looping reforming system in form of volume fraction contours of solid species and molar fraction of H2O has been numerically simulated by considering manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe) based metal oxides as oxygen carriers. The Finite Volume Method based approach has been employed to simulate the steam reactor model by encompassing it as a fluidized bed reactor. The granular flow under kinetic theory has been employed using a multiphase Eulerian-based approach for both gas and solid phases in the form of a shrinking core model. An influence of various operating parameters such as particle size of the oxygen carriers, steam inlet velocity, and temperature of the steam reactor on an overall conversion rate of iron-based oxide (FeO) and manganese-based oxide (MnO). The maximum steam conversion rate for FeO and MnO was observed at 32% and 34% at 0.6 m/s steam velocity, 48% and 60% at a maximum temperature of 1273 K, and 47% and 64% at a particle size of 100 μm, respectively.

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Abbreviations

a :

Acceleration (m·s−2)

a x :

Volume fraction for phase x (—)

D :

Mass diffusion flux (kg·m−2·s−1)

F :

Chemical reaction formation rate (s−1)

g :

Gravity (m·s−2)

G :

Interaction force between phases (N)

ΔH f :

Heat released for fuel (kJ·mol−1)

h :

Enthalpy (kJ·kg−1·K−1)

i :

Spices

k :

Thermal conductivity (W·m−1·K−1)

ṁ xy :

Mass transfer from the xth phase to the yth phase (kg·s−1)

P :

Pressure (N·m−2)

Q :

Heat transfer (kJ)

R :

Heterogeneous reaction rate (—)

T a :

Source term in continuity equation

\({\overrightarrow v _x}\) :

Velocity of the phase x (m·s−1)

\({\overrightarrow v _{yx}},{\overrightarrow v _{xy}}\) :

Interphase velocity (m·s−1)

\(\overrightarrow G \) :

Force (N)

\({\overrightarrow G _{yx}}\) :

Interactive force between phases x and y (N)

\({\overrightarrow G _x}\) :

External body force for phase x (N)

\({\overrightarrow G _{\rm{L}}}\) :

Lift force (N)

\({\overrightarrow G _{\rm{v}}}\) :

Virtual mass force (N)

v :

Velocity (m·s−1)

x :

Phase

y :

Phase

z :

Phase

V:

Virtual

L:

Lift

ρ :

Density (kg·m−3)

μ :

Dynamic viscosity (N·s·m−2)

τ :

Stress-strain tensor

Σ :

Algebraic sum

▽:

Derivative operator

∂ :

Partial differential operator

θ :

Temperature gradient

AR:

Air reactor

CLR:

Chemical looping reforming

CLSR:

Chemical looping steam reforming

CSP:

Concentrated solar power

FR:

Fuel reactor

FVA:

Finite volume approach

RVSPA:

Rapid vacuum pressure swing absorption

SMR:

Steam methane reforming

SR:

Steam reactor

TGA:

Thermal gravimetric analysis

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Christ Polytechnic Institute, Rajkot, Gujarat, India

    Akash Chavda

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dharmsinh Desai University, Nadiad, Gujarat, India

    Pranav Mehta

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Bhubneswar, Odisha, India

    Atal Harichandan

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  1. Akash Chavda
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  2. Pranav Mehta
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  3. Atal Harichandan
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Correspondence to Atal Harichandan.

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Chavda, A., Mehta, P. & Harichandan, A. Numerical analysis of multiphase flow in chemical looping reforming process for hydrogen production and CO2 capture. Exp. Comput. Multiph. Flow 4, 360–376 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42757-021-0105-7

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