Simulation of the Two-Dimensional Gasdynamic, Temperature, and Concentration Fields in an Injection Reactor of Chemical Vapor Deposition for Synthesis of Carbon Nanotube Arrays

Abstract

The two-dimensional axisymmetric gasdynamic, concentration, and heat fields arising in an injection reactor of chemical vapor deposition in the process of synthesis of arrays of carbon nanotubes in it from hydrocarbons and organometallic compounds were numerically simulated for the purpose of investigating the features of these fields. It was established that, even in the case of laminar flow of a gas mixture over the surface of a substrate positioned in this reactor, in it there arise vortices introducing a significant heterogeneity into the gas flow. The influence of changes in the gasdynamic and temperature fields in the indicated reactor on the characteristics of an array of carbon nanotubes grown on the surface of the substrate was analyzed. Parametric calculations of the dependences of the velocity of the gas flow, the gas temperature, and the concentration of reagents in the reactor on the hydrocarbon flow rate, the temperature of the process, and the length of the injection needle have been performed. These calculations have shown that the regimes of heating and mixing of reagents in an injection reactor of chemical vapor deposition correspond to those of an ideal-mixing reactor. The results obtained can be used for determining the conditions necessary for the growth of homogeneous arrays of carbon nanotubes with a high rate on the surface of a substrate in a reactor of chemical vapor deposition.