Thermochemical Model Research Articles

The Temperature and Composition of the Mantle Sources of Martian Basalts

AbstractThe composition of basaltic melts in equilibrium with the mantle can be determined for several Martian meteorites and in‐situ rover analyses. We use the melting model MAGMARS to reproduce these primary melts and estimate the bulk composition and temperature of the mantle regions from which they originated. We find that most mantle sources are depleted in CaO and Al2O3 relative to models of the bulk silicate Mars and likely represent melting residues or magma ocean cumulates. The concentrations of Na2O, K2O, P2O5, and TiO2 are variable and often less depleted, pointing to the re‐fertilization of the sources by fluids and low‐degree melts, or the incorporation of residual trapped melts during the crystallization of the magma ocean. The mantle potential temperatures of the sources are 1400–1500°C, regardless of the time at which they melted and within the range of the most recent predictions from thermochemical evolution models.

Analysis of electromagnetic scattering from hypersonic vehicle coated with non-uniform plasma sheath based on FVTD method

The finite volume time domain (FVTD) method is proposed to accurately calculate the electromagnetic (EM) scattering of hypersonic vehicles coated with non-uniform plasma sheath. The plasma sheath in the actual flight environment is accurately established by solving the Navier–Stokes equations and combining appropriate thermochemical models. The radar cross section (RCS) of metal and uniform medium coated metal targets calculated by FVTD are in good agreement with those simulated by the software FEKO (MoM) and the Mie series. The calculated RCS of the vehicle under the reentry condition is consistent with the flight test data, too. The calculated electron number density distribution is consistent with the flight experiment results. The body fitted structure EM grid is adopted. The EM grid independence of the target coated with plasma sheath is studied. Then, the scattering and plasma EM parameters of the vehicle during the actual reentry are studied. The reentry altitude is from 78 to 55 km, and the reentry velocity is from 6406 to 6350 m/s. With the reentry altitude decreasing, the plasma angular frequency and collision frequency increased gradually. The scattering of different incident conditions and different wall catalytic conditions is analyzed in depth. This paper provides a valuable reference for vehicles' detection, recognition, and stealth during reentry flights.

HALO3D: An All-Mach Approach to Hypersonic Flows Simulation, Part II

ABSTRACT This paper is Part II of the two-paper series ‘HALO3D: An All-Mach Approach to Hypersonic Flows Simulation’ presenting advances in a monolithic flow simulation software for the design of high-speed aircraft. Part II highlights the methodology behind the continuum regime finite-rate surface chemistry, weak-ionisation, and rarefied regime Direct Simulation Monte Carlo modules. Validation and benchmark simulations of flows over a 2D cylinder, the 3D RAM-C II geometry, and the 3D Lockheed Martin X-33 geometry are provided. Within HALO3D, a Hessian-based multiphysics automatic mesh adaptation methodology yields optimal solutions that ought to provide valuable benchmarks for verifying other hypersonic flow simulation tools. Such mesh optimisation automatically generates a common truly mesh-independent solution across the continuum and rarefied regimes, taking into account various thermo-chemical models. These developments establish HALO3D as a mature, readily extendible software package for hypersonic aircraft analysis.

Experimental validation of hydrazine reaction model through hypervelocity impact tests

The impact of debris on a satellite can result in a catastrophic event that not only destroys the spacecraft but it can also generate additional debris in space threatening the sustainability of space activities. Therefore, the design of spacecraft and its critical components require some understanding of the potential damage that can be inflicted by such event. For hydrazine fuel tank located outside the spacecraft, it is important to evaluate the conditions that may lead to its explosion in case of impact.This study aims at investigating through experimental tests, the temperature and pressure range for which hydrazine reacts under hypervelocity impact. The investigated tank conditions are representative of the temperature and pressure typically encountered for a satellite at the end of operational life i.e. with some residual remaining hydrazine in the tank. The main challenge of the project is related to the complexity and the hazard of the handling hydrazine. A specific test configuration and process have been developed for the safety of the operators and the surrounding environment. An ultra-fast valve was designed to isolate the target chamber right after the crossing of the projectile and before any hydrazine vapor comes back towards the gas-gun. The process prevents any direct contact of the laboratory personal with hydrazine. Four instrumented tests have been performed on small container impacted by stainless steel ball of 3 mm diameter at 6 km/s. A hydrazine reaction triggered by the impact has been detected on two tests with the highest temperature. In one case, the released energy has led to a catastrophic failure of the reservoir. These results are valuable for the calibration of a hydrazine thermochemical reaction model of satellite reservoir impact behavior even though the ignition process is not clearly established yet.

Mechanical properties and thermo-chemical damage constitutive model of granite subjected to thermal and chemical treatments under uniaxial compression

Fire, chemical actions, and other hidden dangers during construction and service often threaten tunnels and other underground structures. This study investigated the strength and deformation properties of granite treated with high temperatures and chemical solutions through uniaxial compression tests. Then, a novel statistical damage constitutive model was defined, which considers the initial thermo-chemical damage and loading damage, to discuss the effects of thermal and chemical treatments on the damage evolution of granite during uniaxial compression. The compaction coefficient is proposed to describe the compaction degree of the pore structure induced by thermo-chemical treatment. It is used to modify the proposed damage constitutive model. Finally, the applicability of the modified model and the sensitivity of compaction coefficient are verified and discussed by laboratory data. The results indicate that high temperatures and chemical actions reduce the uniaxial compressive strength and elastic modulus of granite. The modified constitutive model can effectively reflect the compaction characteristics of pore structure induced by thermo-chemical treatment in the initial loading stage. Within 150 ℃, the damage caused by chemical treatment is higher than that by thermal treatment. After thermal treatment at 300 ℃ or above, the thermal damage gradually increases, and the difference in chemical damage caused by different solutions decreases. The rising rate of the damage evolution curve gradually slowed down and changed from nonlinear to linear with increased temperatures.

Numerical analysis of LOx-BioLPG combustion in high-pressure liquid rocket engine propulsion system

The present work numerically investigates the steady state LOx-BioLPG combustion in a high-pressure liquid rocket engine propulsion system, based on the RANS approach using Eulerian single-phase thermo-chemical modeling with Peng-Robinson equation of state. The study primarily focuses on the less carbon emission and the economical range of operation for various equivalence ratios. The critical equivalence ratio (Φ) is predicted to be 0.62, below which the combustion does not initiate. The maximum CO emission in combustion is found at Φ = 2.32, and the maximum specific impulse (Isp) is obtained 327.92 at Φ = 1.50. However, for clean burning of the fuel and less carbon footprint, lean mixture combustion is desirable. The CO emission for Φ = 1.50 is 41%, which is considerably a higher carbon emission percentage for this combustion process. On the other hand, the lean mixture at Φ = 0.80 has a CO emission of 14.7% at the nozzle outlet which is relatively small. The developed power is 57.73 MW with an Isp of 310.96 at Φ = 0.80 which is close to the Isp obtained for Φ = 1.50. Thus, for eco-friendly clean burring, combustion of LOx-BioLPG fuel for Φ = 0.80 is found to be the best in this analysis.

A multi-stage coupling adaptive method for thermochemical nonequilibrium gas

A multi-stage coupling adaptive simulation method for thermochemical nonequilibrium gas is introduced. Based on the mathematic ideal of Lambert's local integration method, the method decomposes the time integration process of the thermochemical nonequilibrium steady flow simulation into multiple ladder-type advancing stages from simple to complex, and applies the progressive approximation strategy of gradually coupling characteristic equations of thermochemical effects to achieve the rapid flowfield simulation. Second, numerical comparative analysis are conducted on the arc-jet wind tunnel test flow conditions of the hemisphere model with radius of R = 50.8 mm. Finally, numerical evaluation of the aerothermal characteristics is carried out for the typical flow state of the OV102-like space shuttle model. The numerical studies show that the new method has excellent effect of accelerating the convergence. Compared with the commonly used uniform advancing implicit method of the tight coupling of flow/thermochemical reactions, the computational efficiency is improved by about 1/3 in the one-temperature 5-species chemical model, and nearly 1 time in the two-temperature 11-species thermochemical model. In addition, the method shows good computational reliability and numerical stability, and can satisfy the requirement of the simulation of the hypersonic flows over complex topological configurations under the large CFL number condition.

How noise induces multi-stage transformations of oscillatory regimes in a thermochemical model

A thermochemical model in the parametric zone of hysteresis with coexisting equilibrium and oscillatory attractors is considered. For the stochastic version of the model, we study probabilistic mechanisms of multi-stage noise-induced transformations of oscillatory modes. These transformations are associated with stochastic P-bifurcations. Constructive abilities of the analytical method based on confidence domains are demonstrated. It is discussed which of the coexisting regimes under increasing noise is more dangerous in the context of temperature blow-ups.

Numerical investigation of surface catalytic effect on the plasma sheath of a hypersonic re-entry capsule

Radio frequency blackout indicates the communication interruption between signal monitoring sites and re-entry vehicles; it is a serious threat to the safety of astronauts and the space exploration missions. In this study, a surface catalytic model coupled with a thermochemical non-equilibrium computational fluid dynamic model is developed to study the catalytic wall effect on the plasma sheath of a hypersonic re-entry vehicle. The mechanism of the surface catalytic effect on the plasma sheath of a re-entry capsule is revealed by a comparative study. The flow-field characteristics simulated under conditions of the full-catalytic and non-catalytic walls are compared and discussed for the hypersonic atmospheric re-entry capsule at different altitudes. The chemical and physical mechanisms behind the surface catalytic effect of the re-entry capsule are analyzed. The experimental data of Radio Attenuation Measurement-C-II are used to validate the numerical model established in the present study. It is found that the numerical results simulated with the fully catalytic wall are more consistent with the experimental data. Near the capsule wall, the mole fractions of the species N, O, N+, and O+ decrease as the catalytic recombination coefficient increases. Because of the surface catalytic effect, the communication black is mitigated due to the reduction of the electron number density in the wake zone of the capsule.

Tomographic filtering of shear and compressional wave models reveals uncorrelated variations in the lowermost mantle

SUMMARY Seismic tomography models reveal differences in the geographic distribution and magnitude of P- and S-wave velocity variations (VP and VS, respectively) below ∼2200 km depth in the Earth’s mantle. In particular, large low shear velocity provinces (LLSVPs) beneath the Pacific and Africa exhibit a distinct low velocity population in the distribution of VS that does not stand out in VP models, carrying important implications for the origin of these features. However, it is possible that the absence of a distinct low velocity feature in VP models is an artefact of VP models having lower resolution compared to VS models owing to differences in coverage. Here, we use ‘tomographic filters’ computed from the singular value decomposition of the sensitivity matrices for a pair of VP and VS models in order to test whether such low velocity features are suppressed in VP models. Our ‘cross-filtered’ results show that resolution alone cannot explain the absence of a corresponding low VP population. We additionally apply the joint VP and VS tomographic filter technique to thermochemical mantle convection models to show that cases with distinct phase and/or composition may be differentiated from cases where only temperature varies. We then develop a new proxy for exploring uncorrelated VP and VS more broadly using the difference between the observed VP model and the filtered VS model input. Our results show that ‘large uncorrelated modulus provinces’ (LUMPs) extend beyond the boundaries of LLSVPs, and exhibit anomalies in both fast and slow regions.

Seasonal dynamics of evaporite mineral precipitation, dissolution, and back-reactions in shallow and deep hypersaline lakes

Seasonal water temperature variations exhibit a first-order control on the mineralogy, texture, and timing of formation of modern, temperate zone lacustrine evaporites. However, seasonality is generally absent from the thermochemical models used to interpret ancient nonmarine evaporites. Here, a seasonal model is presented which correctly reproduced the complex history of evaporite precipitation, dissolution, and back-reactions observed during the drying up of the shallow (2.4 m) Owens Lake, California (ca. 1969). Additional parameters were then added to simulate a deep (>10 m), perennial lake with the same chemical composition (e.g., ancient Searles Lake). Variations in temperature drive saline mineral precipitation and syndepositional alteration in both models, but in different ways. In shallow, well-mixed temperate lakes, minerals crystallize and transform in rhythm with seasonal temperature fluctuations. In deeper stratified lakes, alteration occurs when salts settle from surface waters (variable seasonal temperatures) to the bottom waters (constant temperatures). The deep lake model shows that more than half of the salts that precipitate at low temperatures later dissolve or back-react in warmer bottom waters. Closed basin evaporite deposits formed in temperate lakes thus preferentially preserve high temperature salts. This means that midlatitude lacustrine evaporites contain more climatic and limnological information than previously recognized, and can be interpreted in terms of seasonal temperatures, mean annual temperatures, and lake depths.

Combining renewable sources towards negative carbon emission hydrogen

Multi-energy systems that combine different energy sources and carriers to improve the overall technical, economic, and environmental performance can boost the energy transition. In this paper we posit an innovative multi-energy system for green hydrogen production that achieves negative carbon emissions by combining bio-fuel membrane-integrated steam reforming and renewable electricity electrolysis. The system produces green hydrogen and carbon dioxide, both at high purity. We use thermo-chemical models to determine the system performance and optimal working parameters. Specifically, we focus on its ability to achieve negative carbon emissions.The results show that in optimal operating conditions the system can capture up to 14.1 g of CO2 per MJ of stored hydrogen and achieves up to 70% storage efficiency. Therefore, we prove that a multi-energy system may reach the same efficiency of an average electrolyzer while implementing carbon capture. In the same optimal operating conditions the system converts 7.8 kg of biogas in 1 kg of hydrogen using 3.2 kg of oxygen coming from the production of 6.4 kg of hydrogen through the electrolyzer. With such ratios we estimate that the conversion of all the biogas produced in Europe with our system, could result in the installation of additional dedicated 800 GWp - 1280 GWp of photovoltaic power, or of 266 GWp - 532 GWp of wind power, without affecting the distribution grid and covering yearly the 45% of the worldwide hydrogen demand while removing from the atmosphere more than 2% of the European carbon dioxide emissions.

High-fidelity Reaction Kinetic Modeling of Hot-Jupiter Atmospheres Incorporating Thermal and UV Photochemistry Enhanced by Metastable CO(a3Π)

A detailed modeling of simultaneous UV-photochemical and thermochemical processes in exoplanet atmosphere-like conditions is essential for the analysis and interpretation of a vast amount of current and future spectral data from exoplanets. However, a detailed reaction kinetic model that incorporates both UV photochemistry and thermal chemistry is challenging due to the massive size of the chemical system as well as the lack of understanding of photochemistry compared to thermal-only chemistry. Here, we utilize an automatic chemical reaction mechanism generator to build a high-fidelity thermochemical reaction kinetic model later then incorporated with UV photochemistry enhanced by metastable triplet-state carbon monoxide (a3Π). Our model results show that two different photochemical reactions driven by Lyα photons (i.e., H2 + CO(a3Π) → H + HCO and CO(X1Σ+) + CO(a3Π) → C(3P) + CO2) can enhance thermal chemistry resulting in significant increases in the formation of CH4, H2O, and CO2 in H2-dominated systems with trace amounts of CO, which qualitatively matches the observations from previous experimental studies. Our model also suggests that at temperatures above 2000 K, thermal chemistry becomes the dominant process. Finally, the chemistry simulated up to 2500 K does not produce any larger species such as C3 species, benzene, or larger (i.e., PAHs). This might indicate that the photochemistry of C2 species such as C2H2 might play a key role in the formation of organic aerosols observed in a previous experimental study.

Chemical Modeling of Orion Nebula Cluster Disks: Evidence for Massive, Compact Gas Disks with Interstellar Gas-to-dust Ratios

The stellar cluster environment is expected to play a central role in the evolution of circumstellar disks. We use thermochemical modeling to constrain the dust and gas masses, disk sizes, UV and X-ray radiation fields, viewing geometries, and central stellar masses of 20 class II disks in the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC). We fit a large grid of disk models to 350 GHz continuum, CO J = 3 − 2, and HCO+ J = 4 − 3 Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations of each target, and we introduce a procedure for modeling interferometric observations of gas disks detected in absorption against a bright molecular cloud background. We find that the ONC disks are massive and compact, with typical radii <100 au, gas masses ≥10−3 M ⊙, and gas-to-dust ratios ≥100. The interstellar‐medium‐like gas-to-dust ratios derived from our modeling suggest that compact, externally irradiated disks in the ONC are less prone to gas-phase CO depletion than the massive and extended gas disks that are commonly found in nearby low-mass star-forming regions. The presence of massive gas disks indicates that external photoevaporation may have only recently begun operating in the ONC; though it remains unclear whether other cluster members are older and more evaporated than the ones in our sample. Finally, we compare our dynamically derived stellar masses with the stellar masses predicted from evolutionary models and find excellent agreement. Our study has significantly increased the number of dynamical mass measurements in the mass range ≤0.5 M ⊙, demonstrating that the ONC is an ideal region for obtaining large samples of dynamical mass measurements toward low-mass M-dwarfs.

A subsolar oxygen abundance or a radiative region deep in Jupiter revealed by thermochemical modelling

A subsolar oxygen abundance or a radiative region deep in Jupiter revealed by thermochemical modelling

The tectonics and volcanism of Venus: New modes facilitated by realistic crustal rheology and intrusive magmatism

To explain Venus’ young surface age and lack of plate tectonics, Venus’ tectonic regime has often been proposed to be either an episodic-lid regime with global lithospheric overturns, or an equilibrium resurfacing regime with numerous volcanic and tectonic activities. Stratigraphic analysis suggests that Venus’ surface tectonics could be a combination of these two end-member models with a global resurfacing event that created most of the crust followed by tectonic and volcanic activities until now. Recent analyses of Venus’ satellite images also suggest widespread lithospheric mobility in the lowland basins that does not fit the episodic-lid tectonic regime. Here, we use global 2-D thermochemical convection models with realistic parameters, including rheology (dislocation creep, diffusion creep, and plastic yielding), an experiment-based plagioclase (An75) crustal rheology, and intrusive magmatism, to investigate the tectonics and mantle evolution of Venus. We find that surface tectonics is strongly affected by crustal rheology. With a “weak” plagioclase-rheology crust, models exhibit episodic overturns but with continuously high surface mobility and high distributed surface strain rates between overturns, leading to a new tectonic regime that we name “deformable episodic lid”. On the other hand, olivine-crustal-rheology models exhibit either standard episodic-lid tectonics, i.e. with mobility that is high during overturns and near zero between overturns, or stagnant-lid tectonics, i.e. with near-zero mobility over the entire model time. In models with plagioclase-rheology crust, magmatic resurfacings are short-lived and randomly located, leading to a rather uniform resurfacing rate. Also, a combination of plagioclase crustal rheology and dislocation creep can weaken the lithosphere sufficiently to facilitate lithospheric overturns without applying plastic yielding. Internally, the composition-dependent density profile results in a “basalt barrier” at the mantle transition zone, which strongly affects Venus’ mantle evolution. Only strong plumes can penetrate this basalt barrier and cause global lithospheric overturns. This basalt barrier also causes global internal episodic overturns that generate global volcanic resurfacing in stagnant-lid models, which suggests a new resurfacing mechanism that does not involve lithospheric overturns. We name this regime “stagnant episodic-volcanic-resurfacing”. Results in models with plagioclase crustal rheology and low eruption efficiencies best fit current estimates of crustal thickness, surface age, and tectonic structures based on observations of Venus. The crustal thickness in models with an olivine-rheology crust is limited by the basalt–eclogite phase transition and is higher than observation-based estimates. Higher intrusion rates better fit these estimates, as models with high eruption efficiency predict very low surface age (< 100 Myr).

The puzzle of the formation of T8 dwarf Ross 458c

ABSTRACTAt the lowest masses, the distinction between brown dwarfs and giant exoplanets is often blurred and literature classifications rarely reflect the deuterium burning boundary. Atmospheric characterization may reveal the extent to which planetary formation pathways contribute to the population of very low mass brown dwarfs, by revealing whether their abundance distributions differ from those of the local field population or, in the case of companions, their primary stars. The T8 dwarf Ross 458c is a possible planetary-mass companion to a pair of M dwarfs, and previous work suggests that it is cloudy. We here present the results of the retrieval analysis of Ross 458c, using archival spectroscopic data in the 1.0–2.4 µm range. We test a cloud-free model as well as a variety of cloudy models and find that the atmosphere of Ross 458c is best described by a cloudy model (strongly preferred). The CH4/H2O is higher than expected at $1.97^{+0.13}_{-0.14}$. This value is challenging to understand in terms of equilibrium chemistry and plausible carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratios. Comparisons to thermochemical grid models suggest a C/O of ≈1.35, if CH4 and H2O are quenched at 2000 K, requiring vigorous mixing. We find a [C/H] ratio of +0.18, which matches the metallicity of the primary system, suggesting that oxygen is missing from the atmosphere. Even with extreme mixing, the implied C/O is well beyond the typical stellar regime, suggesting either a non-stellar formation pathway or the sequestration of substantial quantities of oxygen via hitherto unmodelled chemistry or condensation processes.

Massive pre-main-sequence stars in M17

Context.The young massive-star-forming region M17 contains optically visible massive pre-main-sequence stars that are surrounded by circumstellar disks. Such disks are expected to disappear when these stars enter the main sequence. The physical and dynamical structure of these remnant disks are poorly constrained, especially the inner regions where accretion, photo-evaporation, and companion formation and migration may be ongoing.Aims.We aim to constrain the physical properties of the inner parts of the circumstellar disks of massive young stellar objects B243 (6M⊙) and B331 (12M⊙), two systems for which the central star has been detected and characterized previously despite strong dust extinction.Methods.Two-dimensional radiation thermo-chemical modelling with PRODIMOof double-peaked hydrogen lines of the Paschen and Brackett series observed with X-shooter was used to probe the properties of the inner disk of the target sources. The model was modified to treat these lines. Additionally, the dust structure was studied by fitting the optical and near-infrared spectral energy distribution.Results.B243 features a hot gaseous inner disk with dust at the sublimation radius at ~3 AU. The disk appears truncated at roughly 6.5 AU; a cool outer disk of gas and dust may be present, but it cannot be detected with our data. B331 also has a hot gaseous inner disk. A gap separates the inner disk from a colder dusty outer disk starting at up to ~100 AU. In both sources the inner disk extends to almost the stellar surface. Chemistry is essential for the ionization of hydrogen in these disks.Conclusions.The lack of a gap between the central objects and these disks suggests that they accrete through boundary-layer accretion. This would exclude the stars having a strong magnetic field. Their structures suggest that both disks are transitional in nature, that is to say they are in the process of being cleared, either through boundary-layer accretion, photo-evaporation, or through companion activity.

Mantle compositional structure and dynamics of the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone: Insights from integrated thermochemical modelling

The tectonic evolution of the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone is enigmatic due to our poor knowledge of the compositional structure of the Zagros keel and the sub-lithospheric mantle beneath the Iranian plateau. Here, we present a thermochemical model for the upper mantle, starting from the Arabian plate toward the Zagros keel (in SW Iran) and the Iranian plateau to the Kopet Dagh Mountains in NE Iran. The crustal and (sub) lithospheric mantle structure is constrained using receiver functions and high-resolution seismic tomography. The crustal density is obtained by converting local Vp velocity profiles to density. The presumed mantle composition/density of different tectonic units has been inferred from the composition of mantle-derived xenoliths in Pleistocene alkaline basalts of NE Iran, mantle xenoliths from Eastern Arabia, and integrated geophysical-petrological modeling of seismic tomography as well as Bouguer and geoid anomalies. Our results indicate that the lower part of the lithosphere in the Arabian plate is ∼ +25 kg/m3 denser than the sub-lithospheric mantle, which allows underthrusting of the Arabian lithosphere beneath the Iranian plateau. The Zagros core–an ultra-positive seismic velocity anomaly in the tomographic models– is modeled assuming a refractory “craton-like” composition, leading to a ∼-60 kg/m3 density contrast with its underlying fertile lithospheric mantle. We hypothesize that at least the upper ∼100 km of the hydrous Arabian lithosphere was compositionally cratonic before the collision-related shortening processes. In contrast, the anhydrous Iranian lithosphere has been refertilized during asthenosphere upwelling and mantle flows. The Iranian plateau is underlain by a cold sub-lithospheric body characterized by ∼ +25 kg/m3 density contrast with respect to the ambient asthenosphere.

Data-driven framework for input/output lookup tables reduction: Application to hypersonic flows in chemical nonequilibrium

In this paper, we present a novel model-agnostic machine learning technique to extract a reduced thermochemical model for reacting hypersonic flows simulation. A first simulation gathers all relevant thermodynamic states and the corresponding gas properties via a given model. The states are embedded in a low-dimensional space and clustered to identify regions with different levels of thermochemical (non)-equilibrium. Then, a surrogate surface from the reduced cluster-space to the output space is generated using radial-basis-function networks. The method is validated and benchmarked on a simulation of a hypersonic flat-plate boundary layer with finite-rate chemistry. The gas properties of the reactive air mixture are initially modeled using the open-source Mutation++ library. Substituting Mutation++ with the light-weight, machine-learned alternative improves the performance of the solver by 50% while maintaining overall accuracy.