Finite Element Model of a Heated Wire Catalyst in Cross Flow

Experimentally obtained temperatures of a heated coiled platinum wire in low Reynolds Number cross-flow were compared with a three-dimensional finite element (finite volume) model. The calculated average wire temperature was in good agreement with experimentally obtained values with deviations close to experimental uncertainty bounds at temperatures between 530K and 815K. The model predicted a temperature variation along each coil, with the lowest temperatures along the leading edges of the coil and the higher temperatures at the trailing edges. The rate of heat generated at the wire surface from catalytic reactions was found for the ignition of lean propane/oxygen/nitrogen mixtures. We studied the coiled catalytic wire as part of our efforts to ignite very lean homogeneous air-fuel mixtures in transportation engines under conditions approaching Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI).