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Optimization and simulation of the Sabatier reaction process in a packed bed
Author(s) -
Hou Baolin,
Huang Yanqiang,
Wang Xiaodong,
Yang Xiaofeng,
Duan Hongming,
Zhang Tao
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.15245
Subject(s) - packed bed , mass transfer , pressure drop , chemistry , chemical reaction engineering , heat transfer , hydrogen , chemical reaction , mechanics , space velocity , continuous stirred tank reactor , water gas shift reaction , fluid dynamics , thermodynamics , catalysis , chromatography , organic chemistry , physics , selectivity
The Sabatier reaction in a testing packed bed was investigated experimentally and theoretically, and was used to convert waste carbon dioxide and hydrogen to provide needed water for closing the life‐support loop on orbit in space. A three‐dimensional model including fluid flow, gas dispersion, heat and mass transfer, and chemical reaction was developed by coupling some semi‐empirical correlated equations in chemical engineering science into computational fluid dynamics theory. Good agreements between the simulating results and experimental data for the effect of some parameters on reaction verified this model, for example, heat exchange between reactor and atmosphere, the material property of reactor, the catalyst deactivated and gas mass flux and so on. By using this model as the designing tools, an optimized packed bed is proposed. Compared with the testing packed bed, the relevant reactor length can be reduced from 220 to 150 mm with the same hydrogen conversion and lower pressure drop. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J , 62: 2879–2892, 2016