1D and 2D porous media fixed bed reactor simulations with DUO: Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) validation test

Abstract

Porous media models are commonly used to simulate packed bed reactors in the chemical process industry. There are several porous media energy equation models available, but commonly a single energy equation for both the fluid and solid phases is selected. Such an approach has been applied to OpenFOAM, with validation testing done using DUO (DETCHEM und OpenFOAM) for a Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) application. Using a popular kinetics mechanism for this reaction, a good fit between simulation and experiment was observed.