Lattice Boltzmann study on the effect of hierarchical pore structure on fluid flow and coke formation characteristics in open-cell foam for dry reforming of methane

Dry reforming of methane (DRM) is one of the feasible strategies for carbon capture and utilization. However, the DRM process has a high tendency toward carbon deposition, which is restricted to industrial applications. In order to further improve coke formation resistance, open-cell foam with hierarchical pore structure was investigated. An artificial algorithm was adopted to construct a hierarchical pore structure in open-cell foam. Based on a 3-D lattice Boltzmann model, this work explored the effect of two hierarchical pore structure parameters on the fluid flow and coke formation characteristics in open-cell foam, which are hierarchical pore volume ratio (V2/V1) and hierarchical pore size ratio (d2/d1). The results indicated that increasing V2/V1 and d2/d1 can significantly promote permeability. Under the restriction ofV2/V1 = 4, from d2/d1 =1 to 4, the coke formation rate decreases by approximately 57.49 %. These findings provide a theoretical basis and technical guidance for designing and developing open-cell foam reactors.(c) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.