Electrified thermochemical reaction systems with high-frequency metamaterial reactors

Abstract

We present metamaterial reactors as an innovative class of electrified thermochemical reactors that utilize high-frequency magnetic induction of an open-lattice metamaterial baffle to generate volumetric heat. A central design feature is the modeling of the metamaterial as an effective electrically conducting medium, abstracting its detailed microscopic geometry to a macroscopic susceptor description suitable for reactor-scale electromagnetic characterization. Co-design of the power electronics with the metamaterial provides design rules for efficient and volumetric heating, including the requirement for high induction frequencies. We implement lab-scale reactors with ceramic metamaterial baffles (39 mm in diameter) and megahertz-frequency power amplifiers to perform the reverse water-gas shift reaction, demonstrating reactor operation with near-unity heating efficiencies and radially uniform heating profiles. These clean energy concepts provide a broader context for structured reactors in which volumetric internal heating and complementary reaction engineering properties are collectively tailored to enable ideal operation regimes.