Parametric Study of Solid-Phase Axial Heat Conduction in Thermally Integrated Microchannel Networks Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • A parametric study is presented to highlight design challenges of thermally integrated microchannel networks for portable chemistry and/or fuels reforming. One-dimensional modeling analysis of heat transfer in a two-fluid system is presented for the case of (i) two nonreacting fluids (heat exchanger), (ii) a single exothermic reacting fluid and a second nonreacting fluid (regenerative combustor), and (iii) one exothermic reacting fluid and a second endothermic reacting fluid (heat exchanger reactor). In each case, the influence of solid-phase thermal conductivity and thermal packaging upon thermal efficiency, reaction conversion, and steady-state multiplicity is investigated. Results demonstrate the importance of both packaging and solid-phase axial thermal conduction upon system performance, with optimal performance obtained using low thermal conductivity substrates. Modeling analysis predicts steady-state multiplicity when employing low thermal conductivity materials, illustrating the need for future detailed stability analysis. Lastly, simplified mechanical analysis is presented to illustrate the value of coupled thermomechanical analysis. 2008 American Chemical Society.

published proceedings

  • Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research

author list (cited authors)

  • Moreno, A., Murphy, K., & Wilhite, B. A.

citation count

  • 20

complete list of authors

  • Moreno, Angela||Murphy, Kevin||Wilhite, Benjamin A

publication date

  • December 2008