Catalytic Microreactors for Portable Power Generation

Addressing an energy technology issue of huge relevance and complexity, this thesis explores catalytic and gas-phase combustion characteristics in channel-flow, platinum-coated microreactors, focusing on methane and propane microreactor/microturbine concepts.

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"Catalytic Microreactors for Portable Power Generation" addresses a problem of high relevance and increased complexity in energy technology. This thesis outlines an investigation into catalytic and gas-phase combustion characteristics in channel-flow, platinum-coated microreactors. The emphasis of the study is on microreactor/microturbine concepts for portable power generation and the fuels of interest are methane and propane. The author carefully describes numerical and experimental techniques, providing a new insight into the complex interactions between chemical kinetics and molecular transport processes, as well as giving the first detailed report of hetero-/homogeneous chemical reaction mechanisms for catalytic propane combustion. The outcome of this work will be widely applied to the industrial design of micro- and mesoscale combustors.