A Comparison Between Monolithic and Wire Gauze Structured Catalytic Reactors for CH4 and CO Removal from Biogas-Fuelled Engine Exhaust

The application of the wire gauzes as the catalytic supports can provide a number of advantages in biogas exhaust abatement. In this paper, a model of wire gauze structured reactor for biogas exhaust removal is proposed and model based calculations are performed to compare the wire gauze catalytic reactor with the classic monolith. The modelling bases on kinetic data experimentally obtained in a small-scale tubular reactor for cobalt and palladium (as reference) oxide catalysts doped with promoters (Ce, Pd). The heat and mass transfer characteristics of the wire gauze reactor are taken from the former studies by the authors. The simulations show that for assumed reactor parameters, a combination of the promoted cobalt oxide catalyst and the wire gauze support can give high conversion of methane and carbon monoxide.