A three-dimensional conjugate heat transfer model for methanol synthesis in a modular millireactor. (31st August 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Izbassarov, Daulet; Nyári, Judit; Laitinen, Alpo; Laari, Arto; Santasalo-Aarnio, Annukka; Vuorinen, Ville
• Is Part Of: Chemical engineering science. Volume 258(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-08-31
• Subjects: OpenFOAM -- Aspen Plus -- Modular millireactor -- Methanol synthesis -- CO2 hydrogenation; Chemical engineering -- Periodicals; Génie chimique -- Périodiques; Chemical engineering; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 660
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ces.2022.117765
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0009-2509

Abstract

Highlights: A new modular millireactor (MMR) is designed and modeled by a novel approach. A conjugate heat transfer model is proposed to study methanol synthesis in MMR. Detailed analysis of heat transfer and methanol conversion in the MMR is studied. Methanol conversion is shown to vary between 9–23 % in the present MMR. The differences between 3D conjugate heat transfer and 1D/0D models are discussed. Abstract: In this work, a modular millireactor (MMR) is designed and modeled using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tool OpenFOAM. First, the method is validated against a conventional packed bed reactor (PBR) model (1D) with Aspen Plus. Next, the method is applied to study the effects of pressure (2–6 MPa) and temperature (483–533 K) on the performance of the MMR. Conjugate heat transfer (CHT) CFD results for the MMR are compared against a corresponding PBR at isothermal conditions. For the MMR, the methanol yield is shown to vary between 9–23 % within the studied parameter range. Overall, the MMR outperforms the PBR at conditions studied in this work. The maximum difference in methanol yield between MMR and the PBR is noted to be a factor of 1.71 at 533 K and 5 MPa. Such a large discrepancy advocates the usage of 3D CHT/CFD.