Date of Award

9-25-2024

Publication Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.Sc.

Department

Mechanical, Automotive, and Materials Engineering

Keywords

Chemical Mechanisms;Computational Modeling;Decarbonization;Pyrolysis

Supervisor

Nickolas Eaves

Abstract

Decarbonization of the energy generation sector is a very important step to attaining a Net-Zero Carbon economy. Countries, including Canada, have begun phasing out the use of fossil fuels and direct burning of natural gases as energy sources. However, Canada has rich natural gas resources primarily composed of methane that must find a viable use with the direct combustion of methane and other fossil fuels being phased out. One of these uses include methane pyrolysis, the synthesis of “turquoise” low-carbon hydrogen with the co-generation of Carbon Black, or soot, as an added economic incentive. Popular pyrolysis methods such as steam methane reforming, are very expensive and emission intensive. A novel development made by Ekona Power Inc. has found a cleaner use for Canada’s rich methane resources. This research paper is to develop affordable chemical kinetics mechanisms that are able to create accurate predictions for both the physical soot as well as the hydrogen production through the methane pyrolysis process and to understand qualitative trends in pyrolysis modeling. Currently, there are many literature mechanisms available for particle simulation, however, there has been no systematic testing of these mechanisms for methane pyrolysis. Understanding when to best utilize each mechanism given specific temperature and pressure ranges will hopefully decrease computational costs and time.

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