Numerical Evaluation of Potential Catalyst Savings for Ventilation Air Methane Catalytic Combustion in Helical Coil Reactors with Selective Wall Coating

Abstract

During active mining operation of a gassy underground mine, large amounts of methane will be released from the mine ventilation shaft. To eliminate the harmful effects of this ventilation air methane and minimize the wastage of this potential energy resource, considerable effort has been devoted to converting this alternative fuel using catalytic combustion. This study numerically investigated the reaction performance of ventilation air methane (VAM) in helical coil tubes of various configurations utilizing a computational fluid dynamics (CFDs) approach. Several key factors affecting the catalytic combustion performance such as curvature, inlet Reynolds number, and cross-section aspect ratio were evaluated. Recalling the high cost of the catalyst used in this reaction—platinum—optimization of catalyst usage by implementing selective catalyst coating was conducted and investigated. For evaluation purposes, the reaction performance of the helical coil tube was compared to its straight counterpart. The results gave a firm confirmation of the superior performance of the helical coil tube compared to the straight one. In addition, it was found that the selective inner wall coating in the circular cross-section at a higher Reynolds number gave rise to the highest figure of merit (FoM), defined as the net energy produced per mg of catalyst platinum.