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Micro–nano cerium oxide particles with regular morphology and good dispersity have been widely used in polishing and other industrial fields. Microwave heating is an effective, controllable and green heating technology. The Venturi reactor used for microwave heating developed by our team was the core equipment utilized to study the effects of pyrolysis conditions on the purity and microstructure of cerium oxide particles. The experiments were carried out and the products were characterized using XRD, SEM and EDS. Microwave heating, fluid flow and chemical reaction were coupled using numerical simulation, the effects of microwave power, reactor location and waveguide arrangement on temperature fields were investigated. The results showed that with the microwave power increasing, the degree of crystallinity and purity of cerium oxide improved. The morphology gradually became sphere-like. Varied reactor locations and waveguide arrangements changed the gradient and dispersity of temperature fields. Bulk particles and agglomeration could be avoided, and cerium oxide particles with average size of 80 nm were produced when the reactor was located in the center of the cavity. Vertical arrangement of waveguides had the advantages of higher temperature value, gentle gradient and better dispersity.

CeO2 is an important energy storage material that can be used in solid fuel cells. Adding citric acid can improve the particle distribution of the pyrolytic preparation of CeO2 inside the reactor. Through Fluent, this paper investigated the pyrolysis preparation of CeO2 with the addition of citric acid by adopting the Eulerian multiphase flow model, component transportation model, and standard k-ε turbulence model. The experimental and simulation results suggest that the addition of citric acid can alter the pressure, temperature, and component distributions inside the reactor. When the mass fraction of O2 is 0.3, the concentration distribution effect of the CeO2 component is optimal and its conversation rate is the highest. When the mass fraction of citric acid is 0.04, the concentration distribution effect of the CeO2 component is the best, as witnessed by the high CeO2 concentration at the exit. It was found that an O2 content of 30 wt % and citric acid content of 4 wt % were optimal operating conditions for this technology.