Numerical study and field synergy analysis on CO selective methanation packed-bed reactor

Abstract

Carbon monoxide selective methanation (CO-SMET) is one of the most efficient technologies for hydrogen purification and CO deep removal. This paper applies the field synergy principle for a deep understanding on the chemically reactive flow in a CO-SMET tubular reactor. The variation of CO conversion rate under different operating conditions is interpreted, at the first time, as relevant to the variation of the synergy angle between temperature and gas concentration fields. Sensitive analyses of the bed pressure, CO/CO2 ratio, heat exchange modes, etc., are studied to obtain the profile of field synergy angle in the inlet gas temperature range of 373 K – 873 K. It is found that the region with synergy angles between 0° and 70° enhances the heat transfer between mass transfer and contributes the main output of CO conversion. This work provides a fundamental basis on the future optimal design of CO–SMET reactors.