Air purification in a reverse-flow reactor: model simulations vs. experiments

The behavior of a reverse-flow reactor was studied for the purification of polluted air by catalytic combustion. A heterogeneous one-dimensional model was extended with a heat balance for the reactor wall. An overall heat transport term is included to account for the small heat losses in radial direction. The calculations are compared to experimental data without using fit parameters. The agreement between simulations and experiments is generally good. Discrepancies can be explained mainly by inaccurate kinetic data and experimental uncertainties. At low gas velocities and for small reactor diameters, the one-dimensional model failed and a two-dimensional model must be developed to improve the predictive potential.