Mapping Reactive Flow Patterns in Monolithic Nanoporous Catalysts

TL;DR

This paper introduces a multi-scale computational framework using Lattice Boltzmann Method to map where reactions occur in nanoporous catalysts, revealing reactions mainly happen near the gas-facing side when reactions are fast.

Contribution

Developed a novel multi-scale LBM-based framework with a new boundary condition to map reaction zones in nanoporous catalysts.

Findings

Reactions predominantly occur near the gas-flow facing side.

The framework aligns well with experimental observations.

Fast reactions lead to localized reaction zones near the surface.

Abstract

The development of high-efficiency porous catalyst membranes critically depends on our understanding of where the majority of the chemical conversions occur within the porous structure. This requires mapping of chemical reactions and mass transport inside the complex nano-scale architecture of porous catalyst membranes which is a multiscale problem in both the temporal and spatial domain. To address this problem, we developed a multi-scale mass transport computational framework based on the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) that allows us to account for catalytic reactions at the gas-solid interface by introducing a new boundary condition. In good agreement with experiments, the simulations reveal that most catalytic reactions occur near the gas-flow facing side of the catalyst membrane if chemical reactions are fast compared to mass transport within the porous catalyst membrane.