Recent Advances and Challenges in the Catalytic Combustion at Micro-Scales

Authors: Junjie Chen, Deguang Xu

Abstract:

The high energy density of hydrocarbon fuels creates a great opportunity to develop catalytic combustion based micro-power generation systems to meet increasing demands for micro-scale devices. In this work, the recent technological development progress in fundamental understanding of the catalytic combustion at micro-scales are reviewed. The underlying fundamental mechanisms, flame stability, hetero-homogeneous interaction, catalytic ignition, and catalytic reforming are reviewed in catalytic micro-scale combustion systems. Catalytic combustion and its design, diagnosis, and modeling operation are highlighted for micro-combustion application purpose; these fundamental aspects are reviewed. Finally, an overview of future studies is made. The primary objective of this review is to present an overview of the development of micro-power generators by focusing more on the advances and challenges in the fundamental understanding of the catalytic combustion at micro-scales.

Keywords: Micro-combustion, catalytic combustion, flame stability, hetero-homogeneous interaction, catalytic ignition, catalytic reforming.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1123775

References:

[1] A. D. Stazio, C. Chauveau, G. Dayma, and P. Dagaut, “Combustion in micro-channels with a controlled temperature gradient,” Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science, vol. 73, May 2016, pp. 79-86.
[2] T. A. Wierzbicki, I. C. Lee, and A. K. Gupta, “Combustion of propane with Pt and Rh catalysts in a meso-scale heat recirculating combustor,” Applied Energy, vol. 130, October 2014, pp. 350-356.
[3] Y. Yan, W. Tang, L. Zhang, W. Pan, Z. Yang, Y. Chen, and J. Lin, “Numerical simulation of the effect of hydrogen addition fraction on catalytic micro-combustion characteristics of methane-air,” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 39, no. 4, January 2014, pp. 1864-1873.
[4] Y.-H. Li, G.-B. Chen, F.-H. Wu, H.-F. Hsieh, and Y.-C. Chao, “Effects of carbon dioxide in oxy-fuel atmosphere on catalytic combustion in a small-scale channel,” Energy, vol. 94, January 2016, pp. 766-774.
[5] S. A. Smyth and D. C. Kyritsis, “Experimental determination of the structure of catalytic micro-combustion flows over small-scale flat plates for methane and propane fuel,” Combustion and Flame, vol. 159, no. 2, February 2012, pp. 802-816.
[6] W. Choi, S. Kwon, and H. D. Shin, “Combustion characteristics of hydrogen-air premixed gas in a sub-millimeter scale catalytic combustor,” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 33, no. 9, May 2008, pp. 2400-2408.
[7] Y. Wang, Z. Zhou, W. Yang, J. Zhou, J. Liu, Z. Wang, and K. Cen, “Combustion of hydrogen-air in micro combustors with catalytic Pt layer,” Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 51, no. 6, June 2010, pp. 1127-1133.
[8] L. Merotto, C. Fanciulli, R. Dondè, and S. D. Iuliis, “Study of a thermoelectric generator based on a catalytic premixed meso-scale combustor,” Applied Energy, vol. 162, January 2016, pp. 346-353.
[9] J. Ahn, C. Eastwood, L. Sitzki, and P. D. Ronney, “Gas-phase and catalytic combustion in heat-recirculating burners,” Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, vol. 30, no. 2, January 2005, pp. 2463-2472.
[10] K. Maruta, K. Takeda, J. Ahn, K. Borer, L. Sitzki, and P. D. Ronney, Olaf Deutschmann, “Extinction limits of catalytic combustion in microchannels,” Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, vol. 29, no. 1, 2002, pp. 957-963.
[11] S. Karagiannidis, J. Mantzaras, and K. Boulouchos, “Stability of hetero-/homogeneous combustion in propane- and methane-fueled catalytic microreactors: Channel confinement and molecular transport effects,” Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, vol. 33, no. 2, 2011, pp. 3241-3249.
[12] R. Sui, N. I. Prasianakis, J. Mantzaras, N. Mallya, J. Theile, D. Lagrange, and M. Friess, “An experimental and numerical investigation of the combustion and heat transfer characteristics of hydrogen-fueled catalytic microreactors,” Chemical Engineering Science, vol. 141, February 2016, pp. 214-230.
[13] C. Appel, J. Mantzaras, R. Schaeren, R. Bombach, A. Inauen, B. Kaeppeli, B. Hemmerling, and A. Stampanoni, “An experimental and numerical investigation of homogeneous ignition in catalytically stabilized combustion of hydrogen/air mixtures over platinum,” Combustion and Flame, vol. 128, no. 4, March 2002, pp. 340-368.
[14] R. Schwiedernoch, S. Tischer, O. Deutschmann, and J. Warnatz, “Experimental and numerical investigation of the ignition of methane combustion in a platinum-coated honeycomb monolith,” Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, vol. 29, no. 1, 2002, pp. 1005-1011.
[15] D. G. Norton, E. D. Wetzel, and D. G. Vlachos, “Fabrication of single-channel catalytic microburners: Effect of confinement on the oxidation of hydrogen/air mixtures,” Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, vol. 43, no. 16, June 2004, pp. 4833-4840.
[16] S. Karagiannidis, J. Mantzaras, G. Jackson, and K. Boulouchos, “Hetero-/homogeneous combustion and stability maps in methane-fueled catalytic microreactors,” Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, vol. 31, no. 2, January 2007, pp. 3309-3317.
[17] X. Zheng, J. Mantzaras, and R. Bombach, “Kinetic interactions between hydrogen and carbon monoxide oxidation over platinum,” Combustion and Flame, vol. 161, no. 1, January 2014, pp. 332-346.
[18] J. A. Badra and A. R. Masri, “Catalytic combustion of selected hydrocarbon fuels on platinum: Reactivity and hetero-homogeneous interactions,” Combustion and Flame, vol. 159, no. 2, February 2012, pp. 817-831.
[19] G. D. Stefanidis and D. G. Vlachos, “Controlling homogeneous chemistry in homogeneous-heterogeneous reactors: Application to propane combustion,” Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, vol. 48, no. 13, January 2009, pp. 5962-5968.
[20] O. Deutschmann, R. Schmidt, F. Behrendt, and J. Warnatz, “Numerical modeling of catalytic ignition,” Symposium (International) on Combustion, vol. 26, no. 1, 1996, pp. 1747-1754.
[21] X. Zheng, J. Mantzaras, and R. Bombach, “Homogeneous combustion of fuel-lean syngas mixtures over platinum at elevated pressures and preheats,” Combustion and Flame, vol. 160, no. 1, January 2013, pp. 155-169.
[22] M. Schultze, J. Mantzaras, F. Grygier, and R. Bombach, “Hetero-/homogeneous combustion of syngas mixtures over platinum at fuel-rich stoichiometries and pressures up to 14 bar,” Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, vol. 35, no. 2, 2015, pp. 2223-2231.
[23] A. Brambilla, M. Schultze, C. E. Frouzakis, J. Mantzaras, R. Bombach, and K. Boulouchos, “An experimental and numerical investigation of premixed syngas combustion dynamics in mesoscale channels with controlled wall temperature profiles,” Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, vol. 35, no. 3, 2015, pp. 3429-3437.
[24] O. Deutschmann, L. I. Maier, U. Riedel, A. H. Stroemman, and R. W. Dibble, “Hydrogen assisted catalytic combustion of methane on platinum,” Catalysis Today, vol. 59, no. 1-2, June 2000, pp. 141-150.
[25] D. G. Norton and D. G. Vlachos, “Hydrogen assisted self-ignition of propane/air mixtures in catalytic microburners,” Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, vol. 30, no. 2, January 2005, pp. 2473-2480.
[26] V. Seshadri and N. S. Kaisare, “Simulation of hydrogen and hydrogen-assisted propane ignition in pt catalyzed microchannel,” Combustion and Flame, vol. 157, no. 11, November 2010, pp. 2051-2062.
[27] B. Zhong and F. Yang, “Characteristics of hydrogen-assisted catalytic ignition of n-butane/air mixtures,” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 37, no. 10, May 2012, pp. 8716-8723.
[28] V. L. Zimont, “Theoretical study of self-ignition and quenching limits in a catalytic micro-structured burner and their sensitivity analysis,” Chemical Engineering Science, vol. 134, September 2015, pp. 800-812.
[29] P. S. Barbato, A. D. Benedetto, V. D. Sarli, and G. Landi, “Ignition and quenching behaviour of high pressure CH4 catalytic combustion over a LaMnO3 honeycomb,” Chemical Engineering Transactions, vol. 32, 2013, pp. 655-660.
[30] C.-Y. Wu, S. Y. Yang, T.-C. Hsu, and K.-H. Chen, “Self-ignition and reaction promotion of H2 with CO2/O2 in Pt-Coated γ-Al2O3 bead reactor,” Energy, vol. 94, January 2016, pp. 524-532.
[31] S. Karagiannidis and J. Mantzaras, “Numerical investigation on the start-up of methane-fueled catalytic microreactors,” Combustion and Flame, vol. 157, no. 7, July 2010, pp. 1400-1413.
[32] N. S. Kaisare, G. D. Stefanidis, and D. G. Vlachos, “Comparison of ignition strategies for catalytic microburners,” Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, vol. 32, no. 2, 2009, pp. 3027-3034.
[33] J. Jin and S. Kwon, “Fabrication and performance test of catalytic micro-combustors as a heat source of methanol steam reformer,” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 35, no. 4, February 2010, pp. 1803-1811.
[34] J. D. Holladay and Y. Wang, “A review of recent advances in numerical simulations of microscale fuel processor for hydrogen production,” Journal of Power Sources, vol. 282, May 2015, pp. 602-621.
[35] S. W. Jeon, W. J. Yoon, C. Baek, and Y. Kim, “Minimization of hot spot in a microchannel reactor for steam reforming of methane with the stripe combustion catalyst layer,” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 38, no. 32, October 2013, pp. 13982-13990.
[36] T. Kim, “Micro methanol reformer combined with a catalytic combustor for a PEM fuel cell,” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol.34, no. 16, August 2009, pp. 6790-6798.
[37] E. Simsek, M. Karakaya, A. K. Avci, and Z. I. Onsan, “Oxidative steam reforming of methane to synthesis gas in microchannel reactors,” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 38, no. 2, January 2013, pp. 870-878.
[38] D. Mei, Y. Feng, M. Qian, and Z. Chen, “An innovative micro-channel catalyst support with a micro-porous surface for hydrogen production via methanol steam reforming,” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 41, no. 4, January 2016, pp. 2268-2277.