AI-Accelerated Catalytic Turbo-Reactors for Net Zero

This SCGC-FIRST project advances a new class of ultra-compact catalytic reactors by integrating catalysis directly within a turbomachine. Catalytic processes underpin many critical technologies, from ammonia production to hydrogen generation and carbon capture. As the energy transition accelerates, improving the efficiency, footprint, and cost of catalytic systems is increasingly vital.

The project builds on prior work demonstrating a “turbo-reactor” concept capable of delivering or absorbing energy within high-temperature chemical processes. By embedding high-surface-area catalytic structures along the bladed flow path, the system can combine reaction, heat exchange, and fluid circulation within a single compact device—dramatically reducing size and pumping losses.

A key challenge is the computational complexity of modelling catalytic reactions coupled with turbulent, multispecies reactive flows. To address this, the team will extend their machine-learning-assisted, multifidelity modelling framework—ChemZIP—to include heterogeneous catalytic chemistry and complex transport phenomena. This approach enables orders-of-magnitude acceleration in simulations while retaining high accuracy, unlocking efficient design of next-generation catalytic turbo-reactors for sustainable fuels, CCUS, and hydrogen production.