Innovative intensified processes for capturing and converting CO2 into methanol
Funding: T1EDK01532
Partners: SimTec, Laboratory of Environmental Fuels and Hydrocarbons, CPERI/CERTH
Ansys tools: Ansys Fluent
Within the framework of the European CO22MeOH program, the reactions for the production of methanol from CO and CO2 in the plug flow reactor (PFR) were studied. Their study is important, as it can be the next step in efforts that capture CO2 from the atmosphere to produce methanol, the feedstock for many chemicals. The two catalytic hydrogenation reactions of CO and CO2 are complemented by the reaction between them (water gas shift reaction) and the presence of zeolite particles that absorb part of the formed water, so that the balance of the chemical reaction is shifted and the production of methanol increases.
An axisymmetric model was used for the PFR reactor to allow us to produce faster results and run more tests. The kinetic models of the catalytic hydrogenation reactions and the reaction between CO and CO2 were imported into Ansys Fluent via User Defined Functions (UDFs). Fixed problems in model math confusion. Flow and reactions were studied for a range of expected temperature conditions. The zeolite particles were introduced through the Discrete Particle Modeling (DPM) method which is also the most economical way to study dilute multiphase flows.
44 scenarios were run to study the model of the three chemical reactions and another 44 to study the reactions in the presence of the zeolite particles. The study focused on the effect of imposed reactor wall temperature and inlet temperature. The model was tested at possible reactor inlet and wall temperatures. Optimal operating boundary conditions favoring methanol production efficiency were found. The presence of zeolite particle flow was found to increase methanol production up to 7%. In the development of the model the values of the literature were used, but they can be changed in a future re-examination of the problem, taking advantage of the methodologies developed during the program.
