CFD Modeling of N2/H2 Gaseous Flow with Geometric Variations in a Monolithic Channel

• Published in: Procedia engineering 2016, Vol.148, p.1266-1273
• Main Authors: Kashif, Salman Bin, Abdullah, Mohd Zamri, KuShaari, KuZilati
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: CFD; Flow Dynamics; Hydrogen; Nitrogen; Obstruction Orientation
• ISSN: 1877-7058; 1877-7058
• DOI: 10.1016/j.proeng.2016.06.436

Geometric variations by means of orientation of obstructions to the fluid flow can have a significant effect on the flow dynamics of gases in pursuit of maintaining required mixing in a low Reynolds number flow for a prospective reaction between the two gases. In this study, the effect of placing the obstructions parallel and perpendicular to the N2 and H2 flow was observed initially. Parallel placement resulted in favorable conditions in maintaining the desired ratio of the two components giving more than 90% mixing index throughout the channel length while perpendicular placement signaled better lateral movement on encountering the obstruction. Taking a cue from this, geometries having a combination of parallel and perpendicular obstructions were proposed based on results of parametric study on number of wires and spacing between them. Increasing perpendicular obstruction sets beyond 5 took the mixing index down to as low as 60%. Increasing spacing from 1.5mm to 2mm deteriorated mixing index further but reducing perpendicular sets from 5 to 3 with 2mm spacing resulted in 90% mixing index throughout the channel and benchmark observed in axial-only configuration was regained. Also, increasing number of axial wires on a given perpendicular set or reducing their spacing did not alter desired mixing index to a great extent.