Carbon Deposition in Heterogeneous Catalysis
Carbon deposition onto the surface of solid catalysts is commonly observed in hydrocarbon processing. Carbon deposits can affect both the activity of catalysts as well as the flow of gas through a catalyst bed.This example investigates the thermal decomposition of methane into hydrogen and solid carbon. In a first model the isothermal process occurring in an ideal reactor, simulated in the Reaction Engineering Lab, is investigated. The influence of carbon deposition on catalyst activity is also considered using this tool.
In a second model, the effect that the carbon deposits have on the fluid flow is simulated. This is performed in COMSOL Multiphysics taking into account both time and space dependency.
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Hydrogen concentration profile (color plot) in a heterogeneous catalytic reactor as flow (arrow plot) goes from a free channel, though the porous catalytic reactor and then into a free channel again. The model is time-dependant, where catalyst activity is a transient variable, and this snapshot is from t = 300s. |
Engineering Fields
- Reaction Engineering
- Momentum Transfer & CFD
Application Areas
- Chemical Reaction Engineering
- Chemical Engineering