Bubble-Size Distribution and Hydrogen Evolution from Pyrolysis of Hydrocarbon Fuels in a Simulated Ni0.27Bi0.73Column Reactor

Fabiyan Angikath*, Giuseppe Pezzella, S. Mani Sarathy*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study examines the modeling of hydrocarbon pyrolysis in a Ni0.27Bi0.73 molten metal alloy reactor. The model is executed in two stages. The first stage investigates the effect of the physical properties of the gas and molten liquid on the bubble-size distribution, and determines the Sauter mean bubble diameter in the Ni0.27Bi0.73 column. In this stage, a population-balance-based model using the Euler-Euler approach is coupled with nonreactive computational fluid dynamics in the ANSYS Fluent V17.2 software package. After estimating the Sauter mean diameter, the next stage computes the overall decomposition kinetics of hydrocarbons (gas phase + melt interface) and couples them with an existing hydrodynamic model to determine the final H2 output and selectivity. The Sauter mean diameter was found to increase with increasing superficial gas velocity (or flow rate), liquid density, surface tension, column diameter, and decrease with increasing liquid viscosity. The hydrogen selectivity improved when the model included the surface kinetics, and the hydrogen selectivity of higher hydrocarbons was comparable to (or even higher than) that of pure methane at 1000 °C.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)12369-12382
Number of pages14
JournalIndustrial and Engineering Chemistry Research
Volume61
Issue number34
DOIs
StateAccepted/In press - 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology with funds allocated to the Clean Combustion Research Centre.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Chemical Society.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • General Chemical Engineering
  • Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

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