Session: Poster Session

Paper Number: 162929

Impact of Extended Surfaces in an Ammonia Decomposition Reactor for a Sustainable Turbofan 

In pursuit of carbon-free aviation, the catalytic cracking unit (CCU) of a turbofan with ammonia as a hydrogen carrier was analyzed. A CFD analysis was conducted on variants of the proposed CCU with different heights, with and without pin fins as turbulators. A single-step surface reaction mechanism developed in CHEMKIN PRO R1 was paired with the SST k-ω and transition SST turbulent models in ANSYS FLUENT for their accurate boundary layer and free stream prediction. The impact of the pin fins on heat transfer enhancement, ammonia conversion efficiency, and energy consumption was assessed. It was concluded from the simulation results that that pin fins increased the outer reactor wall temperature through conduction and enhanced mixing through flow separation. These effects were most prevalent in the smallest reactor heights and pin diameters due to reduced heat transfer distance and increased number of pin rows. The combination of increased heat transfer, mixing, and improved catalyst surface area from pin fins brought an improvement of ~22% compared to the smooth cases. An increase in power consumption in the reactor was observed with higher conversion due to the endothermic reaction. Analysis of the CCU is critical in the development of the proposed turbofan and an essential first step for carbon-free aviation.

Presenting Author: Matthew Dearolph University of Central Florida

Presenting Author Biography: Matthew Dearolph is an Undergraduate Research Assistant at the University of Central Florida. He has been involved in research surrounding sustainable fuels and turbomachinery.

Authors:

Benjamin Turner University of Central Florida
Matthew Dearolph University of Central Florida
Andrew Menendez University of Central Florida
Erik Fernandez University of Central Florida
Marcel Otto University of Central Florida
Jayanta Kapat University of Central Florida