Thermal decomposition of a reacting chemical in a stepped rectangular channel with multiple obstacles

Abstract

This study was considered realizing the immense application in petroleum, chemical and fuel industry of the conjugate effect of heat transfer and chemical reaction on the laminar fluid flow through a channel with several obstacles. Numerical simulation was conducted using the finite element method with the aid of COMSOL multi-physics software to relate the fluid flow pattern, heat and mass transfer, and the reaction rate to the modification of shape, number, and arrangement of the impediments alongside the change of spacing ratio, the initial velocity of fluid and temperature of the obstacles. The results of this investigation point out a number of interesting phenomenon such as circular objects cause most prominent decomposition of water and the decomposition is found to be oppositely symmetrical to spacing ratio. However, the rise of temperature amplify the decomposition process where the increase in initial velocity influences contrarily. Moreover, increasing the spacing ratio of the obstacles reduced thermal decomposition of the fluid.