Modelling and Experimental Testing of a Tubular Thermochemical Reactor
Abstract
A thermochemical reactor design is presented for high-temperature thermal energy storage via endothermic/exothermic reversible gas-solid reactions. It consists of an array of modular tubes, each containing a packed bed of solid reactants/products and a concentric inner porous tube for inlet/outlet of gaseous reactants/products. A numerical heat and mass transfer simulation model is developed for controlling the reactor operation, e.g. the outflow temperature of the heat transfer fluid, and for optimizing its design. A lab-scale reactor prototype is fabricated and tested using the MgO/MgCO3 carbonation-calcination reaction. After code verification, model validation is accomplished by comparing theoretically calculated and experimentally measured temperature distributions and reactions extents.