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  4. Parametric sensitivity in the Sabatier reaction over Ru/Al2O3 - theoretical determination of the minimal requirements for reactor activation
 
research article

Parametric sensitivity in the Sabatier reaction over Ru/Al2O3 - theoretical determination of the minimal requirements for reactor activation

Moioli, Emanuele  
•
Gallandat, Noris  
•
Zuttel, Andreas  
January 1, 2019
Reaction Chemistry & Engineering

The methanation of carbon dioxide is an option for chemical storage of renewable energy together with greenhouse gas reutilization because it offers a product with a high energy density. The reaction CO2 + 4H(2) CH4 + 2H(2)O is performed on a Ru/Al2O3 catalyst and is strongly exothermal. For this reason, the reactor design must take into account an efficient thermal management system to limit the maximal temperature and guarantee high CO2 conversion. Additionally, the methanation reactor is subject to parameter sensitivity. This phenomenon can generate instability in the operation of a power to gas plant, due to the variability in the hydrogen production rate. Here we present a parametric study of the thermal properties of the reaction and determine the minimal feed temperature for the normal operation of a reactor. The minimal temperature required is determined by several parameters, such as pressure, space velocity and properties of the cooling system. For adiabatic reactors, the required feed temperature is 210 degrees C for a space velocity of 3000 h(-1) and a pressure of 10 bar. The space velocity strongly affects the positioning of the ignition point, causing a large variability of the feed temperature required. At the same time, the optimal working point of the reactor is at the minimal activation temperature. The properties of cooled reactors are elucidated, showing how the interrelationship between cooling and feed temperature makes the management of this class of reactors more challenging. On the base of the modelling results, we propose a reactor configuration that adjusts the thermodynamic limitations and respects the minimal requirements for reaction ignition, allowing a more stable operation and avoiding the functioning at excessive temperature.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1039/c8re00133b
Web of Science ID

WOS:000454361600008

Author(s)
Moioli, Emanuele  
Gallandat, Noris  
Zuttel, Andreas  
Date Issued

2019-01-01

Publisher

ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY

Published in
Reaction Chemistry & Engineering
Volume

4

Issue

1

Start page

100

End page

111

Subjects

Chemistry, Multidisciplinary

•

Engineering, Chemical

•

Chemistry

•

Engineering

•

power-to-gas

•

fixed-bed reactor

•

carbon-dioxide

•

energy-storage

•

renewable energy

•

co2 methanation

•

heat-transfer

•

ruthenium

•

hydrogenation

•

kinetics

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
LMER  
Available on Infoscience
January 24, 2019
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/154070
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