Students: |
Prashant Sanghani, Melissa Roan, Puneet Goel, Dusty Davis |
Faculty: |
Prof. Harold Schobert, Principal Investigator, Director of the Energy Institute Prof. André Boehman, Director of the Combustion Laboratory Prof. Michael Coleman, Polymer Science and Engineering Program Prof. Semih Eser, Director of the Laboratory for Hydrocarbon Process Chemistry Prof. Mike Micci, Department of Mechanical Engineering Prof. Robert Santoro, Director of the Propulsion Engineering Research Center Prof. Chunshan Song, Director of the Applied Catalysis in Energy Laboratory |
Objective: |
To determine the high temperature stability of relevant fuel formulations and assist in the formulation of JP-900 through flow reactor experiments and flow reactor modeling; To determine the behavior of advanced fuel formulations and of stressed fuels during combustion and spray processes. |
Approach: |
The experiments include two types of flow reactors, one designed for studies of solid deposition and bulk decomposition from jet fuel, and a second designed for stressing and then delivering fuels to spray or combustion experiments. The flow reactor model is a finite difference solution of the governing equations for axisymmetric laminar flow in pipes, assuming global fuel decomposition kinetics. |
Results: |
The flow reactor for fuel formulation studies is operational and is currently being used to study the relative stability of JP-8, light cycle oils and hdrotreated light cycle oils. The flow reactor for combustion studies is nearing completion of its construction. The flow reactor model is currently being applied to decomposition of tetradecane and of mixtures of tetradecane and tetralin. |
Photograph of the Flow Reactor for Studies of Jet Fuel Formulation
Schematic drawing of the flow reactor.
