Краткое описание

A model for the combustion of methane-air mixtures in the presence of a catalyst in a packed-bed reactor has been developed. The one-dimensional model accounts for both gas-phase (homogeneous) and catalytic surface (heterogeneous) reactions. These reactions are modeled as single-step reactions of the Arrhenius type. Heat transfer by conduction, convection, and radiation has also been included. The governing equations, which are solved numerically, are the unstead-state equations of conservation of mass, chemical species, and energy for both solid and gas phases, which are assumed not to be in local thermal equilibrium. The results of a numerical investigation conducted with methane as a fuel and platinum as a catalyst are presented for a range of operational conditions, such as inlet temperatures (700−1,300 K), approach velocities (1−3 m/s), and equivalence ratios (0.15−0.50). The calculated values of methane conversion within the packed-bed reactor showed good agreement with some corresponding experimental data obtained for similar conditions. The preliminary results of the numerical investigation showed that the oxidation of methane in such a reactor can be modeled adequately.