Design of a novel hydrogen–syngas catalytic mesh combustor

A small-scale wire-mesh catalytic combustor is developed and evaluated for hydrogen–syngas combustion in domestic power/heating generator. The single- and double-layer wire-mesh catalysts are tested to verify their performance on CO conversions. Experimental results indicate that the double-layer wire-mesh catalytic combustor yields a higher CO conversion ratio (>90%) than that (<40%) of the single-layer wire-mesh catalyst in the range of fuel concentrations, fuel compositions, and flow velocities studied. In order to maintain a stable heterogeneous/homogeneous reaction at the second stage of wire-mesh catalyst, a minimum of 4% hydrogen in syngas and at least 200 °C of preheating temperature on the second wire-mesh catalyst are suggested. The advantages of the wire-mesh combustor are its compactness and ease of assembly and cleaning.