Temperature fluctuations (flickering) of catalytic wires and gauzes—I Theoretical investigation

✍ Scribed by Michael A. Ervin; Dan Luss

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1972
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 588 KB
• Volume: 27
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0009-2509
• DOI: 10.1016/0009-2509(72)85070-x

✦ Synopsis

When chemical reactions occur on catalytic wires or gauzes random surface temperature fluctuations are sometimes observed, and this "flickering" is most predominant in ammonia oxidation convertors. It is shown that the large temperature oscillations of the catalytic surface are most probably due to the coupling between the chemical reaction and the fluctuating turbulent transport coefficients. The computations indicate that the flickering should be rather sensitive to the frequency of the turbulence and dependent on the turbulence intensity and the heat capacity of the wire, as well as on the operating conditions and specific chemical reaction. Large temperature fluctuations are most likely to occur at conditions close to the extinction temperature and they may cause a premature extinction.