Abstract This work describes a CFD modeling study of the Water Gas Shift single stage process in adiabatic conditions, operated by COMSOL Multiphysics 5.0, by means of two different catalytic configurations; the real novelty was to show that the use of structured catalysts with high thermal conductivity could greatly improve the performances of the whole process. The simulations are then validated with kinetic data reported in a previous work, and provides a useful springboard for the design of a single stage process. It was demonstrated that the use of highly conductive carriers reduces the difference of temperature throughout the catalytic bed, under adiabatic conditions, by means of a backdiffusion of the heat of reaction from the output to the input of the bed. The redistribution allows to increase the inlet temperature, with a benefit for the kinetics, at the expence of the outlet temperature that, decreasing, promotes the thermodynamics. The use of a highly active catalytic formulation, at low temperatures, coupled with a conductive carrier, provides, in principle, the possibility to realize a strong intensification of the process.

中文翻译：

---

载体热导率对 WGS 反应中结构化催化剂影响的 CFD 建模

摘要 这项工作描述了绝热条件下水煤气变换单级过程的 CFD 建模研究，该过程由 COMSOL Multiphysics 5.0 操作，通过两种不同的催化配置；真正的新颖之处在于表明使用具有高导热性的结构化催化剂可以大大提高整个过程的性能。然后使用先前工作中报告的动力学数据验证模拟，并为单阶段工艺的设计提供有用的跳板。已经证明，在绝热条件下，通过反应热从床的输出端到输入端的反向扩散，使用高导电性载体减少了整个催化床的温差。重新分配允许增加入口温度，有利于动力学，以出口温度为代价，降低，促进热力学。在低温下使用高活性催化配方，结合导电载体，原则上提供了实现过程强化的可能性。