Heat transfer measurements and simulation of KATAPAK-M® catalyst supports

Abstract

The heat transfer from a heated wall to a cold fluid in a tube filled with KATAPAK-M elements is investigated. The overall heat transfer coefficient, the local wall heat transfer coefficient and the effective radial conductivity are determined from the experimental results using the pseudohomogeneous plug flow model. The same heat transfer is also simulated with three-dimensional numerical flow simulations (CFD). The simulation results agree well with the experimental findings and reproduce the characteristic flat radial temperature profiles. The overall heat transfer coefficients obtained by numerical simulations support the experimental results. It is shown that the local wall heat transfer coefficient and the effective radial conductivity depend strongly on the experimental resolution of the temperature profiles close to the tube wall since the pseudohomogeneous model does not adequately represent the relatively flat temperature profiles typical for KATAPAK-M. With the numerical results presented in this paper, a first reliable basis for a better understanding of catalytic reactors using KATAPAK-M is created.