Honeycomb mini-reactor systems and methods
AssigneeCorning Incorporated
InventorJames Scott Sutherland
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed is a reactor or reactor component comprising a honeycomb structure having cells extending along a common direction and having one or more passages each extending across at least some of the cells, wherein the path or paths of the one or more passages, taken within a plane perpendicular to the common direction, includes or include a number of repeating sub-path units arranged in a two-dimensional array, each sub-path unit including one or more turns or bends in the path. Methods of making, and methods of use, including resulting standardized reactor or reactor component systems, and standardized reactor or reactor component engineering or design, are also disclosed.
Claims11
Method of making a reactor or reactor component including a honeycomb structure having cells extending along a common direction and having one or more passages each extending across at least some cells, the method comprising:
- providing a honeycomb structure having open cells extending between a first end and a second end thereof, said cells divided by cell walls;
- providing an array of cutting tools arrayed in a pattern so as to able to simultaneously align with a first plurality of said cell walls at said first end of the structure, the first plurality of cell walls arranged in a corresponding pattern having an area less than one-half of a total area of the first end of the structure;
- aligning said array with said first plurality of cell walls and cutting the walls of the first plurality of cell walls, reducing their height;
- and
- aligning said array with a second plurality of cell walls at said first end of the structure different from said first plurality and cutting the walls of the second plurality of cell walls, reducing their height.
A reactor or reactor component comprising a honeycomb structure having cells extending along a common direction and having one or more passages each extending across at least some of the cells, wherein the path or paths of the one or more passages, taken within a plane perpendicular to the common direction, includes or include a number of repeating sub-path units arranged in a two-dimensional array, each sub-path unit including one or more turns or bends in the path.
A reactor system comprising:
- interchangeable reactor or reactor-component sub-units each comprising a honeycomb structure having cells extending along a common direction, the cells including a first plurality of cells open through the honeycomb structure, the honeycomb structure of each sub-unit having:
- one of a set of one or more standard shapes in a plane perpendicular to the common direction;
- one of a set of one or more standard areas in the plane perpendicular to the common direction;
- one of a set of one or more standard lengths along the common direction;
- one of a set of one or more standard number of passages extending across a second plurality of the cells of the honeycomb structure, and
- one of a set of two or more standard ratios, taken in a plane perpendicular to the common direction, of cells of the first plurality to cells of the second plurality.
Method of making a reactor or reactor component, the reactor or reactor component comprising a honeycomb structure having cells extending along a common direction, the cells including a first plurality of cells open through the honeycomb structure, the honeycomb structure having one or more passages extending across a second plurality of the cells, a path or paths of the one or more passages, taken within a plane perpendicular to the common direction, including a plurality of repeating sub-path unit patterns, the method comprising:
- determining the desired properties and/or distribution of properties of the reactor or reactor component, including at least one or more of heat transfer coefficient, pressure drop, ratio of total structure volume to total passage volume, total area of open cells, distribution of open cells, and ratio of cells of the first plurality to cells of the second plurality;
- selecting a sub-path unit pattern that matches the desired properties, to within a desired allowable deviation, from a pre-characterized set of sub-path unit patterns;
- forming one or more paths within the honeycomb structure, said one or more paths having the selected sub-path unit pattern.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.