The tubular baffled reactor and its potential for the biological methanation of carbon dioxide

Savvas Savvas, Rajkumar Gangappa, Xiong-Wei Ni, William Davies, William Barton, Mark Thomason, Tim Patterson and Sandra R. Esteves

Renewable Energy, 2024, vol. 232, issue C

Abstract: The biological Power to Methane process (PtM) is gaining ground as an answer to the long-term renewable energy storage problem. Methane is an efficient hydrogen carrier, has an established worldwide transport infrastructure and can serve as a link between renewable power generation and a circular carbon economy. One of the defining factors regarding the scalability of the PtM process is the design of the reactor as it can determine the production rate/energy expenditure ratio. The tubular baffled reactor, a popular reactor design within the chemical industry has been assessed in the present study as a biomethanation reactor for the first time. The experiments were conducted with mixed cultures and the results point to high gas-liquid mass transfer capabilities as indicated by the methanation rates achieved (>90 % CH4 at 270 L/L/d mixed gas input rate). The gas/liquid flow ratio appears to have a stronger effect on methanation than the gas residence time. The working length of the reactor determines the pressure drop experienced by the culture, with higher pressure drops showing a negative correlation to methanogenesis.

Keywords: Methanation; Power-to-Methane; CO2; Plug-flow; Hydrogenotrophic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:232:y:2024:i:c:s0960148124011212

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2024.121053

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