Heat Transfer and Deposition Behavior of Hydrocarbon Rocket Fuels

Bates, Ronald W.; Edwards, Tim; Meyer, Michaël

doi:10.21236/ada410860

Cited by 13 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The thermal stabilities of RP-1 and, to a lesser extent, RP-2 have been thoroughly studied, particularly with respect to the conditions that lead to coking. − Studies of how thermal stressing affects the thermophysical properties of RP-1 and RP-2 are lacking, however. In an effort to address this disparity, a comprehensive study was undertaken at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of the Thermophysical Properties of Thermally Stressed RP-1 and RP-2

Fortin

Bruno

2013

Energy Fuels

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Density, speed of sound, and viscosity have been measured for samples of RP-1 and RP-2 that were stressed for 0.5 min at 475 and 510 °C at a pressure of 17 MPa. Density and speed of sound were measured from 5 to 50 °C for samples stressed at 475 °C and from 5 to 35 °C for samples stressed at 510 °C. Viscosity was measured from −10 to 50 and 35 °C for the samples stressed at 475 and 510 °C, respectively. All measurements were made at ambient atmospheric pressure (∼83 kPa). Additionally, the density and sound speed data were used to derive adiabatic compressibilities, and those results have also been included. Current results for the thermally stressed samples were compared to previously reported measurement results for unstressed RP-1 and RP-2. For all reported properties, increased thermal stressing resulted in increased fuel decomposition and increased deviations from unstressed values.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of the Thermophysical Properties of Thermally Stressed RP-1 and RP-2

Fortin

Bruno

2013

Energy Fuels

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“…The thermal stability of kerosene-based rocket propellants is important for their performance because the rocket propellant serves as both the fuel and the coolant in the rocket engine. − Prior to combustion, some portion of the rocket propellant circulates through channels in the wall of the thrust chamber. Thus, the fuel carries heat away from the wall and maintains a safe wall temperature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This process, which is known as regenerative cooling, exposes the fuel to high temperatures. For this reason, the thermal stability of the kerosene rocket propellants RP-1 − ,, and RP-2 ,,− has been studied extensively. The specifications for the newer rocket propellant, RP-2, were published in 2006 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal Stability of RP-2 as a Function of Composition: The Effect of Linear, Branched, and Cyclic Alkanes

Widegren

Bruno

2013

Energy Fuels

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The objective of this work was to identify compositional changes that could improve the thermal stability of the kerosene rocket propellant known as RP-2. For this study, we probed the effect of different types of alkanes on the thermal stability of RP-2. The proportion of linear, branched, or cyclic alkanes was increased by mixing RP-2 with one of the following alkanes (25% by mass): n-dodecane, n-tetradecane, 4-methyldodecane, 2,6,10-trimethyldodecane, or 1,3,5-triisopropylcyclohexane. These mixtures were thermally stressed in stainless steel ampule reactors at 673 K (400 °C, 752 °F) for up to 4 h. After each reaction, the stressed fuel was analyzed by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection. The decomposition kinetics of each added alkane was determined from the decrease in its chromatographic peak. The overall decomposition kinetics of each fuel mixture was determined from the increase in a suite of chromatographic peaks that correspond to light decomposition products. These data are compared to similar data for neat RP-2.

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“…The key, then, is to find a way to closely simulate the actual conditions encountered by the fuel, while maintaining a cost-effective and quantitative experimental apparatus. The conditions typically found in regenerative cooling passages of modern rocket engines include high initial fuel pressures (3000-7000 psi) and low initial fuel temperatures (from the initial vehicle tank temperature to slightly above) 1 . Fuel velocities vary accordingly with the test channel cross-sectional area, providing a balance between channel pressure drop and the increased heat transfer at the highest heat flux locations of the engine.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Facilities used for studying heat transfer behavior and fuel thermal stability in the United States are resistively heated tube facilities (such as NASA Glenn Research Center's Heated Tube Facility 2-4 , AFRL's Phoenix Rig, and UTRC 5,6 and Rocketdyne's 7,8 heated tube rigs), conductively heated thermal concentrators (such as Aerojet's Carbothermal rig 9,10 ), combustion, arc lamp and laser heating facilities, with the bulk of the data generated coming from the heated tube and conductively heated concentrators [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] . For the heated tube facilities, direct ohmic heating of both pure metal and bimetallic co-annular tubes is used to produce high wall temperatures and circumferential heat transfer to the fuel coolant.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A High Heat Flux Facility Design for Testing of Advanced Hydrocarbon Fuel Thermal Stability

Maas

Irvine

Bates

et al. 2004

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The Air Force Research Laboratory's Propulsion Directorate is developing higher energy density hydrocarbon fuels for application in reusable liquid rocket engines. For increased performance and operability, next generation engines will require better thermal stability understanding of hydrocarbon fuels under high heat fluxes. Of the existing thermal stability test rigs, none have the ability to accurately simulate the high heat flux conditions that will exist in the cooling channels of these new high-pressure hydrocarbon engines. To design and test fuels to meet the high reliability and reusability requirements proposed for these engines, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Edwards AFB has designed the High Heat Flux Facility (HHFF) using experience gained from past thermal stability test rig experiments. In order to design a facility capable of simulating the higher heat fluxes expected in the channels, CFD++, a Metacomp Technologies Inc. computational fluid dynamics software suite, was employed to optimize the design prior to manufacture. Conjugate heat transfer calculations were performed in a single computational domain containing the copper heater block and the fluid channel of the new test rig design. The parameters of interest during each experiment will be heat transfer coefficient, degree of coking and corrosion in the channel, and pressure drop as a function of heat flux, wall temperature, Reynolds number, channel material, fuel composition and pressure. AFRL's HHFF will be an important tool for facilitating the development and transition of new advanced hydrocarbon fuels.

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Heat Transfer and Deposition Behavior of Hydrocarbon Rocket Fuels

Cited by 13 publications

References 9 publications

Assessment of the Thermophysical Properties of Thermally Stressed RP-1 and RP-2

Assessment of the Thermophysical Properties of Thermally Stressed RP-1 and RP-2

Thermal Stability of RP-2 as a Function of Composition: The Effect of Linear, Branched, and Cyclic Alkanes

A High Heat Flux Facility Design for Testing of Advanced Hydrocarbon Fuel Thermal Stability

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