A catalytic reforming reactor and its usage and application

Abstract

This invention discloses a catalytic reforming reactor and its usage and application. The reactor includes at least one sector-shaped reactor. The sector-shaped reactor includes an arc-shaped wall, a straight wall, and a gas collection chamber, which are fixedly connected end-to-end in sequence. The outlet of the gas collection chamber is connected to the outside. The arc-shaped wall is provided with a vaporization chamber, and the inlet of the vaporization chamber is connected to a cooling medium storage tank through a cooling medium pipeline. A sector-shaped catalyst bed is provided within the space enclosed by the arc-shaped wall, the straight wall, and the gas collection chamber, and the catalyst bed is filled with catalyst. Under the aerodynamic heat of a high-speed aircraft, the catalytic reforming reactor of this invention can utilize high-temperature aerodynamic heat to catalytically decompose the cooling medium, generating high-pressure gas molecules, effectively improving the system's aerodynamic heat management capability. At the same time, the high-temperature, high-pressure gas molecules generated can also be used to do work, realizing heat-work conversion.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of high-speed aircraft technology, and more specifically, to a catalytic reforming reactor and its usage and application. Background Technology

[0002] Thermal protection technologies can be mainly divided into passive and active thermal protection technologies. Passive thermal protection, which utilizes thermal protection materials for insulation or ablation of materials to absorb heat through phase change, is the most widely used aerodynamic heat treatment measure and is applied in many high-speed aircraft. This type of thermal protection technology has a relatively simple structure, but its manufacturing process is complex and costly. In ablation thermal protection systems, the material is gradually ablated as the temperature rises during high-speed flight, easily altering the overall aerodynamic shape and leading to accidents. Furthermore, because passive thermal protection systems have weak heat absorption capacity, the required material thickness and weight are large for long-endurance applications, severely compressing the aircraft's payload. Active thermal protection technologies are mainly divided into two categories: sweating cooling and convection cooling. Sweating cooling commonly uses water as the cooling medium, mimicking the heat dissipation process of organisms through sweating. It utilizes the latent heat of vaporization of water to absorb heat and form a thermal barrier, but the system reliability is relatively poor. Convection cooling is commonly used in aerospace vehicles or aircraft. It typically uses circulating liquid hydrocarbon fuel as a coolant, taking away heat from the surface of the structure by utilizing the physical heat capacity of the fuel as it heats up. Due to the limitation of fuel coking, this heat absorption mode is only suitable for supersonic flight at speeds below Mach 5.

[0003] In recent years, with the further improvement of the performance of high-speed aircraft, their aerodynamic thermal environment has become more complex and severe. Therefore, developing a reactor that can efficiently absorb the aerodynamic heat of high-speed aircraft is of great significance. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of this invention is to overcome the above-mentioned defects in the prior art and provide a catalytic reforming reactor and its usage and application. This reactor not only has strong heat absorption capacity, but can also generate high-temperature and high-pressure gas to do work, realize waste heat utilization, thereby reducing the heat insulation layer of the aircraft and increasing the effective load of the system.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, the technical solution of the present invention is as follows:

[0006] A catalytic reforming reactor includes at least one sector-shaped reactor. The sector-shaped reactor includes an arc-shaped wall 1, a straight wall 2, and a gas collection chamber 3, which are fixedly connected end to end in sequence. The outlet of the gas collection chamber 3 is connected to the outside. The arc-shaped wall 1 is provided with a vaporization chamber 11, and the inlet of the vaporization chamber 11 is connected to a cooling medium storage tank through a cooling medium pipeline 6. A sector-shaped catalyst bed 4 is provided in the space enclosed by the arc-shaped wall 1, the straight wall 2, and the gas collection chamber 3, and the sector-shaped catalyst bed 4 is filled with catalyst 5.

[0007] Optionally, the reactor is composed of at least two adjacent circumferentially arranged sector reactors, and the gas collection chambers 3 of each sector reactor are connected by pipelines to form a flow channel for the reaction gas.

[0008] Optionally, the vaporization chamber 11 is located outside the arc-shaped long side of the fan-shaped reactor and consists of evenly distributed small holes, which allows the gas and liquid to be evenly distributed and thus to fully contact the catalyst 5 in the fan-shaped catalyst bed 4.

[0009] Optionally, the cross-sectional area of ​​the feed inlet of the vaporization chamber 11 is 5 cm². 2 ~100cm 2 The cross-sectional area of ​​the outlet of the gas collecting chamber 3 is 0.2 cm². 2 ~10cm 2 .

[0010] The present invention also discloses a method of using the catalytic reforming reactor as described above, comprising the following steps:

[0011] When the temperature of the fan-shaped catalyst bed 4 is 300℃~800℃, the cooling medium stored in the cooling medium storage tank is transported to the vaporization chamber 11 through the cooling medium pipeline 6. The cooling medium vaporizes under high temperature and absorbs part of the aerodynamic heat through the latent heat of physical phase change and sensible heat.

[0012] The vaporized cooling medium enters the fan-shaped catalyst bed 4 through the pipeline. Under the action of the catalyst 5, a chemical endothermic reaction occurs, generating high-pressure gas molecules. The high-pressure gas molecules are discharged through the gas collection chamber 3, and then do work to generate thrust.

[0013] Specifically, the long arc side of the fan-shaped reactor of the present invention is the inlet of the cooling medium, which can use aerodynamic heat to rapidly heat the low-temperature, low-flow-rate cooling medium, thereby decomposing the working fluid through the action of a catalyst. The narrow side of the fan-shaped reactor is the reactor outlet, which can discharge high-pressure gas small molecules to do work and generate thrust.

[0014] Optionally, the catalyst 5 includes a support and an active component and an additive supported on the support; the support is modified alumina; the active component includes at least one of Cu, Ni, Fe, Ru and Pt metals; and the additive includes one or both of Zn and Ce.

[0015] Optionally, in the catalyst 5, the active component accounts for 5% to 35% of the total mass of the catalyst 5, and the auxiliary agent accounts for 1% to 10% of the total mass of the catalyst 5.

[0016] Optionally, the cooling medium is an alcohol-water mixture; the alcohol in the alcohol-water mixture includes at least one of methanol, ethanol, ethylene glycol, propanol, and isopropanol; the mass concentration of the alcohol in the alcohol-water mixture is 1% to 100%.

[0017] Optionally, the alcohol in the alcohol-water mixture is methanol and ethanol, wherein the mass content of methanol in the alcohol-water mixture is 10% to 90%, the mass content of ethanol in the alcohol-water mixture is 10% to 50%, and the mass content of water in the mixture is 30% to 80%.

[0018] The present invention also discloses the application of the catalytic reforming reactor described above in the active thermal protection system of a high-speed aircraft.

[0019] Specifically, the application process is as follows: Under the aerodynamic heat of a high-speed aircraft, the catalytic reforming reactor can use high-temperature aerodynamic heat (300-800℃) to catalytically decompose the cooling medium, generating high-pressure gas molecules, which effectively improves the system's aerodynamic heat management capability. At the same time, the high-temperature and high-pressure gas molecules generated can also be used to do work, realizing the conversion of heat and work.

[0020] Specifically, the sector-shaped reactor of the present invention is suitable for the active thermal protection system of high-speed aircraft. It uses an alcohol-water mixture as the cooling medium for the active thermal protection system. It can not only absorb a large amount of aerodynamic heat through physical vaporization reaction, but also undergo a strongly endothermic reforming reaction under the action of a catalyst. Thus, the reactor can effectively absorb heat and improve the system's aerodynamic thermal management capability. The high-pressure small molecule gas generated by the reaction can be directly discharged or collected in a storage tank and discharged as needed to do work, realizing the conversion of heat and work.

[0021] Implementing the embodiments of the present invention will have the following beneficial effects:

[0022] (1) Compared with traditional passive heat insulation methods, the catalytic reforming reactor provided by the present invention belongs to active thermal protection technology, which has the advantages of strong cooling capacity, long-term heating with high-density heat flow, and closed-loop temperature control.

[0023] (2) Compared with the active heat insulation method of water sweating, the catalytic reforming reactor provided by the present invention can not only utilize the physical heat absorption of the liquid heat-absorbing working fluid, but also enhance the heat absorption through chemical reaction. The theoretical maximum heat absorption capacity of the system is more than twice that of water sweating heat absorption (~3MJ / kg) (>6MJ / kg). When further coupled with ammonia decomposition, alcohol decomposition or alcohol-water reforming reaction, the heat absorption performance of the system can be further enhanced, and thrust can be generated to do work.

[0024] (3) The catalytic reforming reactor provided by the present invention has the advantages of large inlet volume and small outlet volume, which can realize rapid heating of alcohol-water working medium; when the same amount of catalyst is used, compared with the traditional ordinary plate structure, the conversion rate of alcohol-water working medium is increased by about 20%, and the aerodynamic heat absorption capacity is increased by about 15%, thus possessing better aerodynamic heat management and work capacity. Attached Figure Description

[0025] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the catalytic reforming reactor of Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the catalytic reforming reactor in Example 2 of the present invention.

[0027] Figure 3 This is a graph showing the change of outlet gas composition with temperature in Example 3 of the present invention.

[0028] Figure 4 The graph shows the total heat sink test results of the alcohol-water working fluid in Example 4 of the present invention.

[0029] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of a conventional multi-channel plate reactor, which is Comparative Example 1 of the present invention.

[0030] Among them, 1. Arc-shaped wall; 11. Vaporization chamber; 2. Straight wall; 3. Gas collection chamber; 4. Fan-shaped catalyst bed; 5. Catalyst; 6. Cooling medium pipeline. Detailed Implementation

[0031] The present invention will be further described below with reference to specific embodiments, but this does not limit the present invention in any way.

[0032] This invention discloses a catalytic reforming reactor, which includes at least one sector-shaped reactor. The sector-shaped reactor includes an arc-shaped wall 1, a straight wall 2, and a gas collection chamber 3, which are fixedly connected end to end in sequence. The outlet of the gas collection chamber 3 is connected to the outside. The arc-shaped wall 1 is provided with a vaporization chamber 11, and the inlet of the vaporization chamber 11 is connected to a cooling medium storage tank through a cooling medium pipeline 6. A sector-shaped catalyst bed 4 is provided in the space enclosed by the arc-shaped wall 1, the straight wall 2, and the gas collection chamber 3. The sector-shaped catalyst bed 4 is filled with a catalyst 5.

[0033] In one specific embodiment, the reactor is composed of at least two adjacent circumferentially arranged sector reactors, and the gas collection chambers 3 of each sector reactor are connected by pipelines to form a flow channel for the reaction gas.

[0034] In one specific embodiment, the vaporization chamber 11 is located outside the arc-shaped long side of the fan-shaped reactor and consists of evenly distributed small holes, which can make the gas and liquid evenly distributed, and thus can fully contact the catalyst 5 in the fan-shaped catalyst bed 4.

[0035] In one specific embodiment, the cross-sectional area of ​​the feed inlet of the vaporization chamber 11 is 5 cm². 2 ~100cm 2 The cross-sectional area of ​​the outlet of gas collecting chamber 3 is 0.2 cm². 2 ~10cm 2 .

[0036] The present invention also discloses a method of using the catalytic reforming reactor as described above, comprising the following steps:

[0037] When the temperature of the fan-shaped catalyst bed 4 is 300℃~800℃, the cooling medium stored in the cooling medium storage tank is transported to the vaporization chamber 11 through the cooling medium pipeline 6. The cooling medium vaporizes under high temperature and absorbs part of the aerodynamic heat through the latent heat of physical phase change and sensible heat.

[0038] The vaporized cooling medium enters the fan-shaped catalyst bed 4 through the pipeline. Under the action of the catalyst 5, a chemical endothermic reaction occurs, generating high-pressure gas molecules. The high-pressure gas molecules are discharged through the gas collection chamber 3, and then do work to generate thrust.

[0039] In one specific embodiment, catalyst 5 includes a support and an active component and an additive supported on the support; the support is modified alumina; the active component includes at least one of Cu, Ni, Fe, Ru and Pt metals; and the additive includes one or both of Zn and Ce.

[0040] In one specific embodiment, the active component accounts for 5% to 35% of the total mass of catalyst 5, and the promoter accounts for 1% to 10% of the total mass of catalyst 5.

[0041] In one specific embodiment, the cooling medium is an alcohol-water mixture; the alcohol in the alcohol-water mixture includes at least one of methanol, ethanol, ethylene glycol, propanol, and isopropanol; the mass concentration of the alcohol in the alcohol-water mixture is 1% to 100%.

[0042] In one specific embodiment, the alcohol in the alcohol-water mixture is methanol and ethanol, wherein the mass content of methanol in the alcohol-water mixture is 10% to 90%, the mass content of ethanol in the alcohol-water mixture is 10% to 50%, and the mass content of water in the mixture is 30% to 80%.

[0043] The present invention also discloses the application of the catalytic reforming reactor described above in the active thermal protection system of a high-speed aircraft.

[0044] The following are specific embodiments.

[0045] Example 1

[0046] The catalytic reforming reactor in this embodiment, such as Figure 1 As shown, Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a catalytic reforming reactor according to an embodiment of the present invention. The reactor includes a sector-shaped reactor. The sector-shaped reactor includes an arc-shaped wall 1, a straight wall 2, and a gas collecting chamber 3, which are fixedly connected end to end in sequence. The outlet of the gas collecting chamber 3 is connected to the outside. The arc-shaped wall 1 is provided with a vaporization chamber 11, and the feed inlet of the vaporization chamber 11 is connected to a cooling medium storage tank through a cooling medium pipeline 6. A sector-shaped catalyst bed 4 is provided within the space enclosed by the arc-shaped wall 1, the straight wall 2, and the gas collecting chamber 3, and the sector-shaped catalyst bed 4 is filled with catalyst 5. The cross-sectional area of ​​the feed inlet of the vaporization chamber 11 is 7.9 cm². 2 The cross-sectional area of ​​the outlet of gas collecting chamber 3 is 0.79 cm². 2 .

[0047] The method of using the catalytic reforming reactor in the active thermal protection system of a high-speed aircraft according to this embodiment includes the following steps: when the temperature of the fan-shaped catalyst bed 4 is 300℃~800℃, the cooling medium stored in the cooling medium storage tank is transported to the vaporization chamber 11 through the cooling medium pipeline 6. The cooling medium vaporizes under high temperature and absorbs part of the aerodynamic heat through the latent heat and sensible heat of physical phase change. The vaporized cooling medium enters the fan-shaped catalyst bed 4 through the pipeline and undergoes a chemical endothermic reaction under the action of the catalyst 5 to generate high-pressure gas small molecules. The high-pressure gas small molecules are discharged through the outlet of the gas collection chamber 3, thereby doing work to generate thrust.

[0048] Catalyst 5 includes a modified alumina support and active components Cu / Ru and additive Zn supported on the modified alumina support. The mass of Cu accounts for 10% of the total mass of catalyst 5, the mass of Ru accounts for 5% of the total mass of catalyst 5, and the mass of Zn accounts for 3% of the total mass of catalyst 5.

[0049] The cooling medium is a mixed solution of ethanol and water, with the ethanol concentration in the mixed solution being 50% by mass.

[0050] Example 2

[0051] The catalytic reforming reactor in this embodiment, such as Figure 2 As shown, the reactor is composed of multiple fan-shaped reactors arranged in adjacent circles; the fan-shaped reactor includes an arc-shaped wall 1, a straight wall 2, and a gas collection chamber 3 that are fixedly connected end to end in sequence, and the outlet of the gas collection chamber 3 is connected to the outside; the arc-shaped wall 1 is provided with a vaporization chamber 11, and the feed inlet of the vaporization chamber 11 is connected to a cooling medium storage tank through a cooling medium pipeline 6; a fan-shaped catalyst bed 4 is provided in the space enclosed by the arc-shaped wall 1, the straight wall 2, and the gas collection chamber 3, and the fan-shaped catalyst bed 4 is filled with catalyst 5.

[0052] In this reactor, the gas collection chambers 3 of each sector-shaped reactor are connected by pipes to form a flow channel for the reaction gas; the cross-sectional area of ​​the feed inlet of the vaporization chamber 11 is 62.8 cm². 2The cross-sectional area of ​​the outlet of gas collecting chamber 3 is 3.1 cm². 2 .

[0053] The method of using the catalytic reforming reactor in the active thermal protection system of high-speed aircraft in this embodiment is the same as that in Embodiment 1.

[0054] Example 3

[0055] The only difference between this embodiment and Example 1 is that the cooling medium is a mixed solution of methanol and water, and the mass concentration of methanol in the mixed solution is 60%.

[0056] Example 4

[0057] The only difference between this embodiment and Example 1 is that the cooling medium is a mixed solution of methanol and water, and the mass concentration of methanol in the mixed solution is 80%.

[0058] Example 5

[0059] The only difference between this embodiment and Embodiment 3 is that the cooling medium is a mixed solution of methanol, ethanol and water, wherein the mass concentration of methanol in the mixed solution is 50% and the mass concentration of ethanol is 30%.

[0060] Comparative Example 1

[0061] The only difference between this comparative example and Example 3 is that the reactor in this comparative example has a conventional plate structure, and the overall thickness and wall thickness of the reactor are the same as those of the sector-shaped reactor, as detailed below. Figure 5 As shown, everything else is the same as in Example 1.

[0062] Test case

[0063] The reactors of Examples 3-4 and Comparative Example 1 were heated using quartz lamps to evaluate the catalytic activity of the catalyst in the catalytic reforming reactor for different alcohol-water components, thereby simulating the aerodynamic thermal scenario of a high-speed aircraft. The reactor surface temperature was adjusted by controlling the power of the quartz lamp array, and the outlet gas of the reforming reactor was quantified by gas chromatography.

[0064] Table 1 Heat sink test results

[0065]

[0066] The results above show that both the composition of the working fluid and the reactor structure can significantly affect the heat sink of the working fluid.

[0067] Figure 3 The conversion rate and product distribution results are for Example 3. (From...) Figure 3It is evident that within the tested temperature range, the methanol conversion rate increases significantly with increasing temperature, reaching 100% at 600℃. The product composition shows that when the reaction temperature is below 550℃, the main products are H2 and CO, indicating that the primary reaction is methanol decomposition (CH3OH→CO+2H2). When the reaction temperature reaches 600℃, CO2 appears in the products, indicating that a water-vapor shift reaction (CO+H2O→CO2+H2) occurs.

[0068] Figure 4 The results of heat sink tests in Example 4 were obtained in the temperature range of 350–800°C. Figure 4 As can be seen, the heat sink of the working fluid in Example 4 at different temperatures reaches 4.5 MJ / kg at 400℃, which is 43% higher than that of the water working fluid heat sink. At 600℃, the heat sink reaches 5.6 MJ / kg, which is 55% higher than that of the water working fluid heat sink. The phase impact of the reaction gas in the entire temperature range exceeds 150s.

[0069] Comparative Example 1 uses a conventional plate structure to fabricate a reforming reactor. When its surface temperature is 500℃ and 600℃, the corresponding methanol conversion rates are 54% and 81%, respectively. In contrast, the catalytic reforming reactor of Example 3 has conversion rates of 78% and 100% at the corresponding temperatures. It can be seen that the catalytic reforming reactor of the present invention has higher heat and mass transfer efficiency.

[0070] The embodiments described above are merely illustrative of several implementations of the present invention, and while the descriptions are specific and detailed, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of the patent application. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and improvements without departing from the concept of the present invention, and these all fall within the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of this patent should be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A catalytic reforming reactor, characterized in that, The reactor includes at least one sector-shaped reactor; The sector-shaped reactor includes an arc-shaped wall (1), a straight wall (2), and a gas collection chamber (3) that are fixedly connected end to end in sequence. The outlet of the gas collection chamber (3) is connected to the outside. The arc-shaped wall (1) is provided with a vaporization chamber (11), and the inlet of the vaporization chamber (11) is connected to the cooling medium storage tank through a cooling medium pipeline (6); A fan-shaped catalyst bed (4) is provided in the space enclosed by the arc-shaped wall (1), the straight wall (2), and the gas collection chamber (3), and the fan-shaped catalyst bed (4) is filled with catalyst (5).

2. The catalytic reforming reactor according to claim 1, characterized in that, The reactor is composed of at least two adjacent circumferentially arranged sector reactors, and the gas collection chambers (3) of each sector reactor are connected by pipelines to form a flow channel for the reaction gas.

3. The catalytic reforming reactor according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cross-sectional area of ​​the feed inlet of the vaporization chamber (11) is 5 cm². 2 ~100cm 2 ; The cross-sectional area of ​​the outlet of the gas collecting chamber (3) is 0.2 cm². 2 ~10cm 2 .

4. A method of using the catalytic reforming reactor as described in any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: When the temperature of the fan-shaped catalyst bed (4) is 300℃~800℃, the cooling medium stored in the cooling medium storage tank is transported to the vaporization chamber (11) through the cooling medium pipeline (6). The cooling medium vaporizes under high temperature and absorbs part of the aerodynamic heat through the latent heat and sensible heat of physical phase change. After vaporization, the cooling medium enters the fan-shaped catalyst bed (4) through the pipeline. Under the action of the catalyst (5), a chemical endothermic reaction occurs and high-pressure gas molecules are generated. The high-pressure gas molecules are discharged through the outlet of the gas collection chamber (3) and then do work to generate thrust.

5. The method of use according to claim 4, characterized in that, The catalyst (5) includes a support and an active component and an auxiliary agent supported on the support; The carrier is modified alumina; The active component includes at least one of the metals Cu, Ni, Fe, Ru, and Pt; The adjuvant includes one or both of Zn and Ce.

6. The method of use according to claim 5, characterized in that, In the catalyst (5), the active component accounts for 5% to 35% of the total mass of the catalyst (5), and the auxiliary agent accounts for 1% to 10% of the total mass of the catalyst (5).

7. The method of use according to claim 4, characterized in that, The cooling medium is an alcohol-water mixture; The alcohol in the alcohol-water mixture includes at least one of methanol, ethanol, ethylene glycol, propanol, and isopropanol; The alcohol-water mixture has an alcohol concentration of 1% to 100% by mass.

8. The method of use according to claim 7, characterized in that, The alcohol in the alcohol-water mixture is methanol and ethanol, wherein the mass content of methanol in the alcohol-water mixture is 10% to 90%, the mass content of ethanol in the alcohol-water mixture is 10% to 50%, and the mass content of water in the mixture is 30% to 80%.

9. The application of a catalytic reforming reactor as described in any one of claims 1-3 in an active thermal protection system for high-speed aircraft.

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