Electrified Shockwave Turboreactor for Sustainable High Temperature Industrial Processes: Multidisciplinary Additive Manufacturing-Driven Design and Validation

• Electrified shockwave turboreactor for sustainable high-temperature industrial processes. • Additive manufacturing induced blade geometry modifications and reduced cost by a factor of 8. • Experimental surface characterisation assessed the impact on coking and heat transfer. • µCT scans revealed minor dimensional deviations between ‘as-designed’ and ‘as-built’ geometries. • Integrated CFD–CSM–AM workflow validated for lab-scale electrified turboreactor. Innovative power-to-heat turbomachinery technology, such as shockwave turboreactors, can achieve electrification of high-temperature industrial processes. This work presents a multidisciplinary design methodology to develop, manufacture and validate a proof-of-concept shockwave turboreactor. Tackled challenges include reactor scaling, laboratory limitations, material selection and manufacturability constraints. This work investigates AM-driven design modifications using Selective Laser Melting (SLM) of Inconel 718 and their impact on aerodynamic performance, focusing on experimental surface characterisation, flow behaviour, and structural integrity. AM reduced the cost of a rotor blisk by a factor of 8 and the number of assembly parts by a factor of 6. High-resolution X-ray Computed Tomography (µCT) scans compared the ‘as-built’ to the ‘as-intended’ turboreactor design, showing dimensional deviations of <±0.1 mm in the bladed section. Experimental surface characterisation was performed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), optical microscopy and profilometry. Experimental roughness values were converted into equivalent sand-grain roughness and implemented in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. AM-driven geometrical changes reduced the temperature rise by an estimated 9.4%. Surface roughness effects increased temperature by 3.1% due to enhanced turbulence and localised heat transfer. Surface characteristics resulting from the AM affect initial coking, the build-up of carbon deposits on surfaces. However, due to the high flow velocities inside the turboreactor, these deposits are removed by spallation, meaning the carbon layers break off under shear stress, which is crucial for maximising yields for steam cracking. Computational Structural Mechanics (CSM) ensured a safety margin >2 under high rotational speeds and temperatures, supported by modal and rotordynamic analysis, showing safe operation margins across the speed range. This demonstrates that AM-driven design adaptations can effectively realise complex components with economic viability and high accuracy, establishing a foundation for experimental validation of novel turboreactor configurations and advancing sustainable industrial steam cracking and gas heating solutions.