Multiscale modeling of methane catalytic partial oxidation: From the mesopore to the full-scale reactor operation

A multiscale methodology combining three different reactor length-scales is presented to investigate the role of the catalyst internal pore structure and metal loading and dispersion on the catalyst layer and full-scale reactor performances. At the catalyst level, the methodology involves pore-scale simulations in the three-dimensional mesopore and macropore space. The information gathered at the catalyst level is delivered to the full-scale reactor model. The methodology is applied to a honeycomb reactor performing methane partial oxidation considering reaction kinetics described through a detailed multistep reaction mechanism. Realistic mesopore and macropore structures were reconstructed and combined to form specific bidisperse porous washcoat layers. The study shows that species effective diffusivities vary significantly but not in the same proportion for different structures. For structures featuring poor transport characteristics, the integral methane conversion and hydrogen selectivity are strongly affected while the reactor temperatures increase substantially. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 64: 578–594, 2018