Flow Simulations Including Iron Nanoparticle Nucleation, Growth and Evaporation for Floating Catalyst CNT Production
Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Trumpington Stree, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK
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Catalysts 2020, 10(12), 1383; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal10121383
Received: 4 November 2020
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Revised: 23 November 2020
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Accepted: 24 November 2020
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Published: 27 November 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalysts in 1D and 2D Materials—Their Role in Synthesis, Properties and Applications)
We use a computational fluid dynamics model coupled with a particle dynamics model to simulate how catalyst nanoparticles nucleate, grow and evaporate over the length of a floating catalyst reactor. We focus on the influence of the flowrate in the reactor and the ferrocene mass fraction on the production of the catalyst nanoparticles. In the downstream region of the reactor, where the majority of CNT growth occurs, we find that, as either the flowrate or the ferrocene mass fraction increases, the particle mass fraction profile changes, with the mass fraction peak shifting away from the centreline. This displacement away from the centreline of the mass fraction peak may explain why the CNTs form a hollow, sock-like, aerogel at the downstream end of the reactor.
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Keywords:
carbon nanotubes; computational fluid dynamics; floating catalyst; chemical vapour deposition; CNT synthesis; catalytic synthesis; particle modelling
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MDPI and ACS Style
Gökstorp, F.K.A.; Juniper, M.P. Flow Simulations Including Iron Nanoparticle Nucleation, Growth and Evaporation for Floating Catalyst CNT Production. Catalysts 2020, 10, 1383. https://doi.org/10.3390/catal10121383
AMA Style
Gökstorp FKA, Juniper MP. Flow Simulations Including Iron Nanoparticle Nucleation, Growth and Evaporation for Floating Catalyst CNT Production. Catalysts. 2020; 10(12):1383. https://doi.org/10.3390/catal10121383
Chicago/Turabian StyleGökstorp, Filip K. A., and Matthew P. Juniper. 2020. "Flow Simulations Including Iron Nanoparticle Nucleation, Growth and Evaporation for Floating Catalyst CNT Production" Catalysts 10, no. 12: 1383. https://doi.org/10.3390/catal10121383
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