Simulation of Multi-Physicochemical Methane Photocatalytic Process in the SCPP-HPCR Using Lattice Boltzmann Method
摘要
Constructed by a solar chimney power plant (SCPP) and a honeycomb photocatalytic reactor (HPCR), the system can remove non-CO2 greenhouse gases on a large scale. A mesoscopic-scale fluid flow heat transfer model of the photocatalytic reaction region within the SCPP-HPCR system has been established based on the Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). Multiple distribution functions have been introduced to simulate the distribution of flow, temperature, and concentration of the photocatalytic region. The performance of photocatalytic methane in the SCPP-HPCR system has been analyzed under the influence of different operating and structural parameters. The results show that increasing the inlet methane flow rate can improve the efficiency of photocatalytic and purification rate of CH4, and lead to the increase in carbon dioxide generation rate. When the solar radiation Gr=857 W/m2 and the inlet flow rate Qp=750 mL/min, the photocatalytic efficiency can reach 30.67%. Furthermore, decreasing the aperture size results in enhanced photocatalytic efficiency, purification rate of CH4, and equivalent CO2 reduction rate. When the inlet flow rate Qp=1000 mL/min and the aperture size Dp=0.5 mm, the photocatalytic efficiency can reach 40.23%. Conversely, an increase in the temperature leads to a slight decrease in all evaluated criteria, and the highest photocatalytic efficiency is 24.79% at a temperature of 298 K. These findings provide valuable insights and guidance for subsequent simulation studies on a more microscopic scale.