Younhwa Lee and Man Young Kim*
The Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology, vol. 26, no. 8, pp.2259-2265, 2012

Abstract : "Catalytic combustion is generally accepted as an environmentally preferred alternative for generation of heat and power from fossil fuels, as it has stable combustion under very lean conditions with such low emissions as NOx, CO and UHC typically at temperatures lower than in the conventional flame combustion. Yet, the commercial application of catalytic combustion has been delayed due to the difficulty in handling complicated reaction processes occurring over the catalysts. In this work, numerical studies on the catalytic combustion behavior over Pd-based catalysts for the BOP (balance of plant) of MCFC power generation systems have been conducted. After introducing the governing equations, numerical investigations on the catalyst performance with the gaseous CH4 and C3H8 fuels are conducted by changing such parameters as excess air ratio, space velocity, inlet temperature, and H2 addition over the catalytic combustion systems adopted in the BOP of 5 kW MCFC power generation systems. Catalytic combustion is found to be more active in case of lower excess air ratio, lower space velocity, higher inlet temperature, and higher supply rates of additional H2 fuel. Also, it can be found that the reaction rate is faster and the outlet temperature is higher when C3H8 is used rather than CH4."

Keyword : Catalytic combustion; BOP; MCFC power generation system; Methane; Propane