Controlling Catalytic Microcombustors as Heat or Chemical Machines

公共摘要(CBET-0729701)将催化微燃烧器控制为加热或化学机械这一综合研究计划将有助于开发一种新的发电技术，最终可能导致替代现有电池，并利用传统的碳氢化合物原料和可再生能源生产化学品。该计划将阐明能够有效利用催化微燃烧用于各种最终用途的基本原理，例如用于取暖的热源、用于驱动吸热反应的耦合燃烧器/反应器。一种用途是按需生产受控数量的化学品，另一种用途是为质子交换膜(PEM)燃料电池生产氢气。这将通过层次化的多尺度模拟与实验相结合的方式实现，在没有活动部件的可调高表面积催化微型燃烧器中。该计划可能导致技术消除处理酸基电池的环境负担，以及回收或使用部分用过的电池和充电的物流，以及绕过燃烧过程中热NOx的产生。此外，从这项工作中获得的理解可能有助于将短接触时间催化反应器技术商业化，将较大的烷烃或生物质基化学品转化为烯烃，这是聚合物工业的关键起始化学品。作为该项目的一部分，将通过网络传播Chemkin格式的表面反应机理和关于催化反应热力学一致性的教程。

Public Abstract (CBET-0729701)Controlling catalytic microcombustors as heat or chemicals machinesThis integrated research program will aid development of a new power generation technology that could eventually lead to replacement of existing batteries and production of chemicals from traditional hydrocarbon feedstocks and renewables. This program will elucidate the fundamentals that can enable the efficient utilization of catalytic microcombustion for diverse end use applications, such as heat sources for warmth, coupled combustor/reactor to drive endothermic reactions. One use would be producing controlled amounts of chemicals on demand, while another would be to produce hydrogen for proton-exchange-membrane (PEM) fuel cells. This will be achieved by the integration of hierarchical multiscale simulation with experiments in tunable, high-surface-area catalytic microburners without movable parts.This program could lead to technology that would eliminate the environmental burden of dealing with acid-based batteries and the logistics of recycling or using partially used batteries and recharging as well as bypass the thermal NOx production of combustion processes. Furthermore, the understanding gained from this work could assist in the commercialization of short contact time catalytic reactor technology transforming larger alkanes or biomass-based chemicals to olefins, which are key starting chemicals in the polymer industry. As part of this project, surface reaction mechanisms in Chemkin format and a tutorial on thermodynamic consistency of catalytic reactions will be disseminated via the web.