High-resolution numerical simulations of turbulent non-catalytic reverse water gas shift

Nils Erland L. Haugen; Axel Brandenburg; Ewa Karchniwy; Ole Hauke Heinz Meyer; Åsmund Ervik; Hursanay Fyhn; Ladan Samaei; Bjørn Bringedal

arXiv · 2602.08365

High-resolution numerical simulations of turbulent non-catalytic reverse water gas shift

Nils Erland L. Haugen·Axel Brandenburg·Ewa Karchniwy·Ole Hauke Heinz Meyer·Åsmund Ervik·Hursanay Fyhn·Ladan Samaei·Bjørn Bringedal

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Abstract

A green transition in aviation requires a drastic upscaling of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). The power-to-liquid process for the production of CO2-neutral jet fuel via electricity, called e-SAF, directly replaces fossil jet fuel without having to change infrastructure, aeroplanes, or jet-engines. The process combines green hydrogen with industrial exhaust gas, or captured carbon dioxide, in a circular economy concept. A key element of the e-SAF production plant is the reactor where syngas is produced. Traditional reactors use catalytic technology, which faces severe challenges due to the reduced performance over time because of catalyst degradation, clogging, and breakup due to embrittlement. A high-potential alternative is the catalyst-free reverse water-gas-shift (RWGS) reactor concept. The primary aim of this paper is to investigate the fundamental aspects of the catalyst-free RWGS process, such as reaction kinetics and the interactions between turbulence and chemistry. The secondary aim is to identify how a typical combustion subgrid scale models for Large Eddy Simulations (LES) perform when the chemical reactions are endothermic, in contrast to the strong endothermicity associated with classical combustion. It is found that even small traces of O2 in the CO2 stream can significantly increase the production rate of CO. This is attributed to the increased pool of OH. The effect is strongest at atmospheric pressure and less pronounced at higher pressure. By using the temporal jet framework to study turbulence-chemistry interactions, an algebraic equation for the prediction of the CO conversion time in a turbulent flow as a function of Damkohler number and chemical timescale is employed. Finally, it is concluded that the PaSR LES subgrid model designed for combustion reactions perform well also for the endothermic reverse water-gas-shift reaction.

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Nils Erland L. Haugen, Axel Brandenburg, Ewa Karchniwy, Ole Hauke Heinz Meyer, Åsmund Ervik, Hursanay Fyhn, Ladan Samaei, Bjørn Bringedal. 2026-02-09. High-resolution numerical simulations of turbulent non-catalytic reverse water gas shift. https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.08365

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