Session: Poster Session

Paper Number: 162913

High-Fidelity Numerical Analysis of Ammonia Cracking in Tubular Reactors With Plug Flow Reactor as a Benchmark for Performance Assessment for Sustainable Aviation 

This study explores high-fidelity Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations to evaluate the performance of ammonia cracking reactors for sustainable aviation. Leveraging ammonia as a hydrogen carrier, the focus is placed on analyzing and comparing tubular and tubular with enhancements against the Plug Flow Reactors (PFR) using ANSYS Fluent and CHEMKIN. A single-step volume reaction model was created using the User Defined Function (UDF) in ANSYS to describe the chemistry through a porous catalyst layer. The surface reaction model was created using CHEMKIN to describe chemistry on the surface where the volume layer is no longer considered. The CFD surface approach was developed using the CHEMKIN mechanism to significantly reduce computational costs by avoiding the resolution of small catalyst-layer length scales. Both models were validated against experimental and simulation data from the literature. Initial sensitivity analysis was done in CHEMKIN to assess the effect on conversion by adjusting the channel length and cross-sectional area. The study reveals that incorporating surface enhancements and promoting mixing within the reactor brings its performance closer to the idealized PFR. These modifications improve conversion efficiency by increasing surface area and inducing turbulent flow, redistributing heat, and creating more uniform temperature profiles that benefit the endothermic ammonia cracking process.

Presenting Author: Andrew Menendez University of Central Florida

Presenting Author Biography: Graduate Research Assistant working under Dr. Kapat

Authors:

Andrew Menendez University of Central Florida
Erik Fernandez University of Central Florida
Marcel Otto University of Central Florida
Jayanta Kapat University of Central Florida