LAUSR

Abstract The one-dimensional plug flow reactor (PFR) model is commonly used in regenerative cooling simulations. However, the applicability of PFR for scramjet applications has not been given due consideration, in which the effects of turbulent flow and heat transfer were not considered. In this study, we compared the pyrolysis performance with PFR and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in regenerative cooling channels and studied the effects of the main operating parameters on predictive accuracy of PFR, namely: pressure, flow rate, and heat flux. Experiments were performed to validate the CFD model and illustrate the predicative deviations in PFR under different operating conditions. Results revealed that the competitive effects of mixing and radial temperature heterogeneity caused by turbulent flow and convective heat transfer influenced the predictive accuracy of PFR with different intensities which changed with the operating conditions. Besides, the importance of heat transfer effects was emphasized in the prediction of the changing regularity of heat sink. This work is expected to provide novel understandings of reacting flow to engineering applications.