A Review on Detailed Kinetic Modeling and Computational Fluid Dynamics of Thermochemical Processes of Solid Fuels

• Published in: Energy & fuels 2021-04, Vol.35 (7), p.5479-5494
• Main Authors: Choi, Cheolyong, Zhang, Wei, Fukumoto, Kazui, Machida, Hiroshi, Norinaga, Koyo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0887-0624; 1520-5029
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.0c04052

This review presents the recent advances in computational approaches to understand thermochemical reactions of solid fuels with minimized empirical factors. It includes studies on kinetic modeling of gas-phase reactions of multicomponent molecular mixtures of volatiles derived from primary pyrolysis of solid fuels using a database for elementary reactions. Mechanistic studies to model the devolatilization of biomass and coal upon heating are also mentioned. The efforts to integrate the kinetic model with computational fluid dynamics to understand the flow and heat transfer behavior of industrial reactors for solid fuel conversions, including gasification and combustion, are reviewed. These advances are primarily based on the conventional forward analysis that provides a deeper understanding of chemically reacting flows of fuels undergoing thermochemical reactions. For the further development of the thermochemical conversion technology, it can be expected to develop alternative approaches such as inverse analysis to determine the optimal reactor design and operating conditions.