Synthesizing methanol in square ducts
DOI: 10.1063/10.0042201
Synthesizing methanol in square ducts lead image
The intermittent nature of wind and solar energy can pose problems when directly integrated with energy grids. An alternative is systems that convert wind or solar energy to hydrogen (H2) to produce synthetic fuels.
Methanol, made by hydrogenating recycled carbon dioxide (CO2) with H2 from electrolysis, is one such renewable fuel. Korhonen et al. explored efficient production of methanol, using numerical simulations to investigate methanol production in a square duct.
“3D computational fluid dynamics can offer detailed information on the physics and chemistry in systems used in the production of renewable fuels,” said author Ville Vuorinen.
In the simulation, H2 and CO2 flow through a square duct with catalytic walls. As H2 and CO2 enter the reacting zone, methanol synthesis occurs along the duct walls.
As the team increased the turbulence in their simulation, reactants spent less time at the catalytic surfaces. However, turbulence also increased mass flow rates. Because the hydrogenation reaction is transport-limited, high turbulence led to more reactant interacting with the catalyst in each time interval, resulting in greater overall methanol production.
There may be an upper limit to how much turbulence enhances methanol production, despite the simulation’s results — it neglects internal mass and heat transfer within the catalyst, and real-world catalyst loading may be lower than modeled.
“With the increased understanding from our computational studies, our group is currently investigating methanol production in experimental laboratory reactors,” said Vuorinen. “I believe our study will support other researchers in developing improved modeling capabilities in the near future.”
Source: “Methanol synthesis via direct CO2 hydrogenation in a square duct: A direct numerical simulation study,” by Marko Korhonen, Daulet Isbassarov, Judit Nyári, Annukka Santasalo-Aarnio, and Ville Vuorinen, Physics of Fluids (2025). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0285070 .
