Detailed transient numerical simulation of H2/air hetero-/homogeneous combustion in platinum-coated channels with conjugate heat transfer

Transient two-dimensional simulations of fuel-lean H2/air combustion were performed in a 2-mm-height planar channel coated with platinum, using detailed hetero-/homogeneous chemistry and transport as well as heat conduction in the solid wall. The developed model resolved, for the first time, all relevant spatiotemporal scales in a practical channel-flow reactor configuration. A parametric study was carried out to investigate the effects of wall material, inlet velocity, and inlet temperature on the fundamental catalytic and gas-phase combustion processes. Computational singular perturbation (CSP) analysis identified the key catalytic reactions affecting light-off and homogeneous ignition. Homogeneous ignition crucially depended on the OH desorbing fluxes from the catalyst, while flame propagation and stabilization involved time scales of a few milliseconds. During the short duration of the light-off event, the ensuing Stefan velocity appreciably altered the flow field. Predictions of time accurate numerical simulations were further compared against those of a code relying on the quasisteady state assumption, and the specific conditions under which the latter was invalidated were identified. Finally, CSP analysis unraveled the reasons for the high computational cost of the fully transient 2-D simulations. The surface reaction mechanism exhibited a high stiffness with fastest time scales of the order of 10-1210-12 s, pertaining to the hydrogen adsorption and to the H(s) + O(s) = OH(s) + Pt(s) reactions. These time scales were in turn six orders of magnitude shorter than the ones associated with gas-phase chemistry or with a simplified single-step catalytic reaction.