(509bu) Design and Characterization of Washcoated Catalytic Microreactors for Dynamic Operation

Microreactor technology has become increasingly prevalent in the past few decades since its conception. This technology is incredibly valuable in deconvoluting the transport limitations from the reaction kinetics. To this end, we propose an ultrathin film catalytic reactor and construct a COMSOL transport model to define heating and cooling timescales. We then used this model to build a capillary microreactor system for catalytic reactions using an alumina washcoat layer followed by the incipient wetness impregnation of a nickel catalyst. Through various characterizations including SEM and sorption techniques we were able to characterize the thin film layer and its chemical properties. From here we were able to use this reactor in the isothermal reaction of methane synthesis with the potential to oscillate the temperature dynamically.