Examining Thermal Management Strategies for a Microcombustion Power Device

Microcombustion attracts interest with its promise of energy dense power generation for electronics. Yet, challenges remain to develop this technology further. Thermal management of heat losses is a known hurdle. Simultaneously, non-uniformities in heat release within the reaction regions also affect the device performance. Therefore a combination of thermal management strategies are necessary for further performance enhancements. Here, a bench top platinum nanoparticle based microcombustion reactor, coupled with thermoelectric generators is used. Methanol-air mixtures achieve room temperature ignition within a catalytic cartridge. In the current study, the reactor design is modified to incorporate two traditional thermal management strategies. By limiting enthalpic losses through the exhaust and reactor sides, using multi-pass preheating channels and heat recirculation, expected improvements are achieved. The combined strategies doubled the power output to 1.01 W when compared to the previous design. Furthermore, a preliminary study of catalyst distribution is presented to mitigate non-uniform catalytic activity within the substrate. To do this, tailored distribution of catalyst particles was investigated. This investigation shows a proof-of-concept to achieve localized control, thus management, over heat generation within substrates. By optimizing heat generation, a highly refined combustion-based portable power devices can be envisioned.

Catalyst Distribution Optimization Scheme for Effective Green Hydrogen Production from Biogas Reforming

Green hydrogen technology has recently gained in popularity due to the current economic and ecological trends that aim to remove the fossil fuels share in the energy mix. Among various alternatives, biogas reforming is an attractive choice for hydrogen production. To meet the authorities’ requirements, reforming biogas-enriched natural gas and sole biogas is tempting. Highly effective process conditions of biogas reforming are yet to be designed. The current state of the art lacks proper optimization of the process conditions. The optimization should aim to allow for maximization of the process effectiveness and limitation of the phenomena having an adverse influence on the process itself. One of the issues that should be addressed in optimization is the uniformity of temperature inside a reactor. Here we show an optimization design study that aims to unify temperature distribution by novel arrangements of catalysts segments in the model biogas reforming reactor. The acquired numerical results confirm the possibility of the enhancement of reaction effectiveness, coming from improving the thermal conditions. The used amount of catalytic material is remarkably reduced as a side effect of the presented optimization. To ensure an unhindered perception of the reaction improvement, the authors proposed a ratio of the hydrogen output and the amount of used catalyst as a measure.

2D Simulation for CH4 Internal Reforming-SOFCs: An Approach to Study Performance Degradation and Optimization

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are a well-developed technology, mainly used for combined heat and power production. High operating temperatures and anodic Ni-based materials allow for direct reforming reactions of CH4 and other light hydrocarbons inside the cell. This feature favors a wider use of SOFCs that otherwise would be limited by the absence of a proper H2 distribution network. This also permits the simplification of plant design avoiding additional units for upstream syngas production. In this context, control and knowledge of how variables such as temperature and gas composition are distributed on the cell surface are important to ensure good long-lasting performance. The aim of this work is to present a 2D modeling tool able to simulate SOFC performance working with direct internal CH4 reforming. Initially thermodynamic and kinetic approaches are compared in order to tune the model assuming a biogas as feed. Thanks to the introduction of a matrix of coefficients to represent the local distribution of reforming active sites, the model considers degradation/poisoning phenomena. The same approach is also used to identify an optimized catalyst distribution that allows reducing critical working conditions in terms of temperature gradient, thus facilitating long-term applications.

Effect of Fe and Co promoters on CO methanation activity of nickel catalyst prepared by impregnation – co-precipitation method

Ni based catalysts supported on γ-Al2O3 that was unpromoted (Ni/γAl2O3) or promoted (Ni–Fe/γAl2O3, Ni–Co/γAl2O3, and Ni–Fe–Co/γAl2O3) were prepared using by the impregnation – co-precipitation method. Their catalytic performances for CO methanation were studied at 3 atm with a weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) of 3000 ml/g/h of syngas with a molar ratio of H2/CO = 3 and in the temperature range between 130 and 350 °C. All promoters could improve nickel distribution, and decreased its particle sizes. It was found that the Ni–Co/γAl2O3 catalyst showed the highest catalytic performance for CO methanation in a low temperature range (<250 °C). The temperatures for the 20% CO conversion over Ni–Co/γAl2O3, Ni–Fe/γAl2O3, Ni–Fe–Co/γAl2O3 and Ni/γAl2O3 catalysts were 205, 253, 263 and 270 °C, respectively. The improved catalyst distribution by the addition of cobalt promoter caused the formation of β type nickel species which had an appropriate interacting strength with alumina support in the Ni–Co/γAl2O3. Though an addition of iron promoter improved catalyst distribution, the methane selectivity was lowered due to acceleration of both CO methanation and WGS reaction with the Ni–Fe/γAl2O3. Moreover, it was found that there was no synergetic effect from the binary Fe–Co promotors in the Ni–Fe–Co/γAl2O3 on catalytic activity for CO methanation.