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A CFD Design Approach for Industrial Size Tubular Reactors for SNG Production from Biogas (CO 2 Methanation)

Author

Listed:
  • Victor Soto

    (Carbon and Catalysis Laboratory (CarboCat), Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universidad de Concepción, P.O. Box 160-C, Concepción 4070386, Chile)

  • Claudia Ulloa

    (Environmental Engineering Department, Faculty of Environmental Sciences and EULA Chile Centre, Universidad de Concepción, P.O. Box 160-C, Concepción 4070386, Chile)

  • Ximena Garcia

    (Carbon and Catalysis Laboratory (CarboCat), Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universidad de Concepción, P.O. Box 160-C, Concepción 4070386, Chile)

Abstract

A tubular reactor based on the disk and doughnut concept was designed as an engineering solution for biogas upgrading via CO 2 methanation. CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) benchmarks agreed well with experimental and empirical (correlation) data, giving a maximum error of 8.5% and 20% for the chemical reaction and heat transfer models, respectively. Likewise, hot spot position was accurately predicted, with a 5% error. The methodology was used to investigate the effect of two commercially available coolants (thermal oil and molten salts) on overall reactor performance through a parametric study involving four coolant flow rates. Although molten salts did show higher heat transfer coefficients at lower coolant rates, 82% superior, it also increases, by five times, the pumping power. A critical coolant flow rate (3.5 m 3 /h) was found, which allows both a stable thermal operation and optimum pumping energy consumption. The adopted coolant flow range remains critical to guarantee thermal design validity in correlation-based studies. Due to the disk and doughnut configuration, coolant flow remains uniform, promoting turbulence (Re ≈ 14,000 at doughnut outlet) and maximizing heat transfer at hot spot. Likewise, baffle positioning was found critical to accommodate and reduce stagnant zones, improving the heat transfer. Finally, a reactor design is presented for SNG (Synthetic Natural Gas) production from a 150 Nm 3 h −1 biogas plant.

Suggested Citation

  • Victor Soto & Claudia Ulloa & Ximena Garcia, 2021. "A CFD Design Approach for Industrial Size Tubular Reactors for SNG Production from Biogas (CO 2 Methanation)," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-25, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:19:p:6175-:d:644733
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Savvas, Savvas & Gangappa, Rajkumar & Ni, Xiong-Wei & Davies, William & Barton, William & Thomason, Mark & Patterson, Tim & Esteves, Sandra R., 2024. "The tubular baffled reactor and its potential for the biological methanation of carbon dioxide," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C).

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