Simulation of catalytic processes in a fixed bed with the use of microwave radiation for performing an endothermic reaction

Abstract

A quasi-homogeneous model of a catalytic fixed-bed reactor, in which an endothermic chemical reaction occurs with the use of microwave radiation energy, was proposed and numerically analyzed. The versions of the arrangement of a radiation source at the reactor inlet and outlet and also the versions of microwave radiation energy conversion into heat by a catalyst and an initial gaseous reagent were considered. The effects of model parameters on the dynamic behavior of the system were studied, and a qualitative structural difference between the resulting steady-state conditions was demonstrated. The phenomenon of endothermic chemical reaction autowave propagation was discovered, and the regularities of this propagation were studied.