Catalytic Combustion of Very Lean Mixtures in a Reverse Flow Reactor Using an Internal Electrical Heater

Abstract

An experimental study of the reverse flow reactor, equipped with an internal electrical heater, for the autothermal combustion of very dilute organic compounds, in particular ethene, propane, and their mixtures, has been carried out. The influence of several operating parameters like electrical heater power, cycle period, chemical character, and concentration of the pollutants on the maximum temperature and on the shape of temperature profiles in the stationary state is discussed. Experimental results show that an internal electrical heater can be successfully used to oxidize completely very lean mixtures which would not be able to maintain an autothermal process only by themselves. The predictions with a heterogeneous one-dimensional model without using fit parameters show a good agreement with experiments except for critical situations.