Simulation of a lab-scale methanation reactor

Abstract: By the everyday increasing enthusiasm for using renewable-sustainable sources in energy production area, focusing on one and optimizing it in the best possible way should be of much interest. Biogas production from anaerobic digestion of wastes is a well known energy source which could be applied more efficiently if the CO2portion of it would be upgraded to CH4as well. There is a methanation reaction which could convert carbon dioxide to methane with the use of hydrogenation. In this report, the effort is to simulate this methanation reactor which is a catalytic bed of ruthenium on alumina base. The temperature change and its’ effect on reaction kinetics and equilibrium, also deriving designing parameters for the catalyst bed are different tasks which was tried to be covered in this thesis work. Based on calculations, the reactor can operate isothermally or adiabatically. The point is that each method has its own cons and pros. For the isothermal case finally the optimum temperature to run the reaction is decided to be 600 K in 10 bar total pressure. In adiabatic case then it is understood to work on interstage cooling strategy which in given conditions came to the number of 6 for reactors and 5 for interstage cooling devices. Afterwards it is thought to apply some technical changes to conventional adiabatic method and recycle some part of the product to the entrance of the reactor and assist the conversion. In this method number of reactors would be reduced to 2 and one heat exchanger in the middle. Selecting the best process in large scale treatment, needs lots of economical analysis and detail design while in small scale condition the most preferred method to run the reaction is isothermal.