Mathematical modeling of automotive catalytic converter for catalytic combustion of the volatile organic compound (voc) methane

Abstract

Monolithic catalytic converters are used to minimize the emission of air pollutants to the environment. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are seen to be released in considerable amounts from these catalytic converters during the warm-up period. In this paper, the conversion of a slow oxidizing volatile organic compound (VOC) methane is analysed with numerical simulation using a noble metal catalyst (Pt/δ-Al2O3) and metal oxide catalyst CuO/δ-Al2O3. The transient, one-dimensional monolith model is developed using gas-phase energy balance, solid-phase energy balance, and gas-phase mass balance. The unsteady state analysis consists of a system of partial differential equations (PDEs). These equations are solved using an Implicit Scheme with the help of Matlab software. The conversion of methane is analysed with reaction temperature for both Pt/δ-Al2O3 catalyst and CuO/δ-Al2O3 catalyst. Also, the effect of the ageing of catalysts on catalytic converter performance was analysed.