Endothermic Cracking of n-Dodecane in a Flow Reactor using Washcoated Activated Carbon on Metal Foam

The heat generated by air friction during the flight of a hypersonic vehicle must be timely removed. For this purpose, a cooling technology based on the endothermic decomposition of the loaded fuel has been developed. In this study, the decomposition of n-dodecane was performed using activated carbon as a catalyst, which was coated onto metal foam to maximize the heat sink of the catalytic decomposition reaction. By applying this technology, the heat sink was increased to 1805 Btu/lb, and the gas yield was as high as 72%.