Design of novel monolith catalyst supports for gas/solid reactions with heat exchange

The potential of novel structured metallic catalysts for highly exothermic gas/solid reactions is parametrically investigated by means of a pseudo-continuous, heterogeneous 2D monolith reactor model. The effects of catalyst design parameters (thermal conductivity and microgeometry of the support, load of active components) are shown. The design of monolith catalysts affording high conversions with very limited temperature gradients is addressed. Results indicate that metallic honeycombs are promising for the improvement of existing catalytic processes, but monoliths with significantly different characteristics from those of commercial ones, which are tailored for environmental applications, must be developed. The optimal honeycomb structures include relatively large volume fractions of support made of materials with a high intrinsic conductivity, as well as large loads of the catalytic components (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.