Fuels Combustion Research: Supercritical Fuel Pyrolysis
Abstract
The fuels used in the next generation of hypersonic aircraft will have to operate under very high pressures (beyond the critical pressures of most hydrocarbons) and will have to sustain very high heat loads in order to meet aircraft cooling requirements, Potential candidates for meeting these stringent cooling requirements are 'endothermic' fuels, fuels that can undergo a controlled heat-absorbing chemical reaction (e.g., dehydrogenation) prior to combustion. Critical to the development of the fuel systems in these aircraft is an understanding of the fuel pyrolysis reaction mechanisms under the conditions that the fuels will be operating. Of particular interest are the reactions leading to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), which can serve as precursors to fuel-line deposits, a problem of critical importance to avoid, for safe aircraft operation. In order to better elucidate the mechanisms and kinetics of the reactions of endothermic fuel pyrolysis and PAH formation under supercritical conditions, supercritical pyrolysis experiments are being conducted, under the present research program, with model fuels, over a range of supercritical pressures and temperatures. The model fuels include two endothermic fuels, methylcyclohexane and decalin, as well as toluene and heptane, hydrocarbons representative of the aromatic and aliphatic components of jet fuels. The reaction products are analyzed by high-pressure liquid chromatography with diode-array ultraviolet-visible absorbance detection (HPLC/UV), an isomer-specific technique ideally suited for the analysis of PAH. It is anticipated that the results from this study will provide information of critical importance to the design and development of fuel systems for high-speed aircraft.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 19, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADP012132
Entities
People
- Mary J. Wornat
Organizations
- Princeton University