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We review the modern state of cellular automata (CA) applications for solving practical problems in chemistry and chemical technology. We consider the problems of material structure modeling and prediction of materials’ morphology-dependent properties. We review the use of the CA approach for modeling diffusion, crystallization, dissolution, erosion, corrosion, adsorption, and hydration processes. We also consider examples of hybrid CA-based models, which are combinations of various CA with other computational approaches and modeling methods. Finally, we discuss the use of high-performance parallel computing to increase the efficiency of CA.

In this work, a cellular automata (CA) approach was used to generate 3D structures of polyamide and carbon aerogels. Experimental results are used as initial data for materials’ digital representations and to verify the developed CA models. Based on the generated digital structures, a computer study of aerogels’ mechanical properties was conducted. The offered CA models can be applied for the development of new nanoporous materials such as aerogels of different nature and allow for a reduction in the amount of required full-scale experiments, consequently decreasing development time and costs of new material formulations.

The presented work is dedicated to the modeling of catalytic reactors using a multiscale approach, based on the combination of cellular automata and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). This work describes the first step in the development of a complex model of catalytic reactors and considers the diffusion of components inside a porous structure of an aluminosilicate catalyst. Various cellular automata were used to generate virtual porous structures of catalysts with specific surface areas equal to 250, 500, and 700 m 2 /g and to calculate the effective diffusion coefficient for the substance transfer inside the catalysts. The obtained effective diffusion coefficient was included in the CFD model of a laboratory scale reactor simulating extraction of aniline from the catalyst with methanol. Results of numerical experiments carried out using the CFD model were compared with the corresponding experimental data. It is shown that the proposed approach is suitable for describing macroscopic and microscopic mass transfer phenomena on consideration of the catalyst's structure.