Particle formation and heat transfer in a gas-solid hydrolysis reactor with cupric chloride conversion to copper oxychloride

摘要

This paper presents a new predictive heat and mass transfer model of the gas-solid reaction in a cupric chloride decomposition and hydrolysis reactor during thermochemical water splitting in a copper-chlorine (Cu-Cl) cycle. The hydrated cupric chloride droplets descend in a narrow vessel through a reactor which forms a more coherent flow than a traditional hydrolysis spray reactor. The reactor operates based on falling solid particles and the gas-solid flow behavior in the reactor is analyzed to predict the total relative velocity of steam in its interaction with the CuCl_2 (s). Aspen plus software and past literature are used for the thermodynamic and kinetic parameter evaluation. The present model reveals new physical insights into the gas/solid hydrodynamics in the hot zone of the hydrolysis reactor. From the analysis and results, the total relative velocity of steam through the height of the furnace varies from 0.32 m/s at the bottom to 0.12 m/s at the top. Furthermore, at the steam/CuCl_2 molar ratio of 15 for an increase of cupric chloride volumetric flow rate from 8 ml/min into 25 ml/min, the average net heat transfer rate increases from 1.85 kW into 5.45 kW.