A numerical performance study of a fixed-bed reactor for methanol synthesis by CO2 hydrogenation. (26th April 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Izbassarov, Daulet; Nyári, Judit; Tekgül, Bulut; Laurila, Erkki; Kallio, Tanja; Santasalo-Aarnio, Annukka; Kaario, Ossi; Vuorinen, Ville
• Is Part Of: International journal of hydrogen energy. Volume 46:Number 29(2021)
• Page Start: 15635
• Page End: 15648
• Publication Date: 2021-04-26
• Subjects: CFD -- OpenFOAM -- Methanol synthesis -- CO2 hydrogenation -- Catalyst particles; Hydrogen as fuel -- Periodicals; Hydrogène (Combustible) -- Périodiques; Hydrogen as fuel; Periodicals; 665.81
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.02.031
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0360-3199

Abstract

Abstract: Synthetic fuels are needed to replace their fossil counterparts for clean transport. Presently, their production is still inefficient and costly. To enhance the process of methanol production from CO2 and H2 and reduce its cost, a particle-resolved numerical simulation tool is presented. A global surface reaction model based on the Langmuir-Hinshelwood-Hougen-Watson kinetics is utilized. The approach is first validated against standard benchmark problems for non-reacting and reacting cases. Next, the method is applied to study the performance of methanol production in a 2D fixed-bed reactor under a range of parameters. It is found that methanol yield enhances with pressure, catalyst loading, reactant ratio, and packing density. The yield diminishes with temperature at adiabatic conditions, while it shows non-monotonic change for the studied isothermal cases. Overall, the staggered and the random catalyst configurations are found to outperform the in-line system. Highlights: A novel computational tool is presented for CO2 and H2 -based methanol synthesis. Aspen Plus (1D) and OpenFOAM (1D/2D) fixed-bed reactor simulations are performed. Maximum methanol yield is found to be limited by 1D solution. The isothermal random and staggered configurations outperformed the in-line system.