repository copy of Coal mine ventilation air methane combustion in a catalytic reverse flow reactor : Influence of emission humidity

7 The role of the humidity content on the performance of catalytic reverse flow reactors (RFR) for the 8 abatement of methane emissions from coal mines is studied in this manuscript. It has been 9 demonstrated that this technique is very useful for the abatement, and even upgrading, of these 10 emissions. However, the effect of humidity on the reactor performance has not been addresses yet, 11 in spite of being well known that water is an inhibitor in catalytic combustion. 12 Experimental studies in a lab-scale isothermal fixed bed reactor demonstrated that water decreases 13 the activity of a palladium on alumina catalyst for the combustion of methane, but this inhibition is 14 entirely reversible, results fitting well to a Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic model. Then, the influence 15 of water was studied in a bench-scale RFR operating at near adiabatic conditions at different 16 switching times (100-600 s) and methane feed concentrations (2700-7200 ppm). Finally, a 17 mathematical model for the reverse flow reactor, including the kinetic model with water inhibition, 18 has been validated using the experimental results. This model is of key importance for designing this 19 type of reactors for the treatment of mine ventilation emissions. 20