CFD Simulation of Single-phase Flow Characteristics and Pressure Drop in SiC Hollow-strut Foam Microchannel Reactors

Abstract

Abstract Microchannel reactors (MCR) have received considerable attention by researchers in recent years. A novel hollow-strut ceramic foam microchannel reactor (HSCF-MCR) taking the material and structural advantages of SiC foam was proposed. The reactor could be used as a structural scaffold for continuous gas or liquid phase flow and reaction because all of its struts are hollow and interconnected with each other. The three-dimensional (3-D) microstructure of the SiC foam was characterized by SEM and micro-CT method. Based on the tetrakaidecahedron cell model, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method was utilized to analyze the single-phase flow characteristics and pressure drop of HSCF-MCR. The 3-D interconnected structure can form the static mixing effect of the flow fields inside the foam microchannel and strengthen the mass transfer process. Both channel diameter D and cell size L of the foam play a vital role in the pressure drop gradient δ of the fluid flowing through HSCF-MCR. When the ratio of D to L is controlled as 0.1, δ is minimized. The CFD simulation results contribute to the structural optimization and energy saving of HSCF-MCR for its applications in the future.