Numerical modeling of triply period minimal surface structures with catalyst coating for hydrogen production of methanol steam reforming

The catalyst support structure has a significant influence on the performance of the methanol steam reforming (MSR) microreactor for in-situ hydrogen production. Triply period minimal surface (TPMS) structures are emerging as an attractive option as porous MSR catalyst supports owing to their excellent specific surface area, smooth surface and highly interconnected pores. This paper develops a numerical model of the sheet TPMS unit structures with catalyst coating to investigate the flow and reaction characteristics for hydrogen production of MSR reaction. The P, G, and D curved surface structural models were constructed with different porosities. The numerical results indicated that the P curved surface structure with the porosity of 90% had the lowest pressure drop of 0.15 Pa and the highest permeability of 6.31 × 10−9 m2, while the G curved surface structure always demonstrated excellent flow performance within the porosity range of 50–90%. The D curved surface structure exhibited the best reaction performance with hydrogen production exceeding P and G curved surface structures by about 23% and 78% respectively. Furthermore, the performance differences between the two flow phases of the sheet TPMS structures were investigated for the bicontinuous characteristic. The flow phases of the G curved surface structure demonstrated the best consistency in flow and reaction performances. Finally, the optimal design of the sheet, network, and multi-unit heterogeneous TPMS structural catalyst supports was discussed.