Heat transfer characteristics and design aspects of thermolysis reactor in copper-chlorine thermochemical water splitting cycle

Abstract

Thermolysis of copper oxychloride is the highest temperature reaction step of Copper–Chlorine cycle which forms cuprous chloride and oxygen gas as products. In the present study, important design aspects of thermolysis reactor have been investigated experimentally and a mathematical model has been developed to understand the effect of critical parameters on conversion. Experiments were conducted in tubular reactors with three different diameters of 25 mm, 50 mm and 100 mm to study the effect of reactor geometry on heat transfer and conversion. Modelling of batch thermolysis reactor has been carried out using governing heat transport equations coupled with reaction kinetics and validated against experimental data. As per the experimental and modelling results, enhancement in conversion could be achieved with increasing aspect ratio and heat transfer. The studies provide clear insights into the design and scale-up of thermolysis reactor to address the issues of low conversion observed during the multi-step thermal decomposition reaction.