Laminar flow of a reacting gaseous mixture through a vertical duct with catalytic walls

Numerical analysis has been performed for predicting the onset and establishment of a steady state flow of a reactive hydrogen/air/vapour mixture through a two-dimensional vertical duct of finite length with its side walls coated by catalytic material. The flow is initiated by the exothermic reaction of hydrogen with air oxygen on the catalytic wall, that causes the hot gases to flow upwards through the vertical duct and by continuity sucks fresh mixture through the lower end of the duct. The flow is always laminar and the two-dimensional governing transport differential equations are solved by means of the numerical finite volume method, using a collocated variable arrangement. Comparisons between calculated and experimental data are presented, showing good agreement between them. The method is employed for various initial mixture compositions and duct geometries.