Senior Capstone Design Research Project on Combustion of Bio-Derived Fuels in Hybrid Propellant Rocket Engine

Naoumov, Viatcheslav; Masoud, Nidal Al

doi:10.2514/6.2018-0807

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The field of beeswax-fueled hybrid chemical propulsion is considerably underdeveloped compared to paraffin. An extensive search of literature related to beeswax hybrid rocket fuels yields a series of initial studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville culminating in two postgraduate theses [10,34,35], a series of annual senior design projects at Central Connecticut State University [36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44], and the lone peer reviewed article in the field of beeswax propulsion by the Egyptian Space Technology Centre [45]. Most of these works generally investigated a broad range of bioderived hybrid rocket fuels, but beeswax consistently proved most practical as a hybrid rocket fuel.…”

Section: B Beeswax 1) Evaluation As a Hybrid Rocket Fuelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A series of studies by Naoumov et al from 2013 to 2020 attempted to establish regression rate comparisons between paraffin, beeswax, and each of these with up to 10% micron-sized aluminum powder added for fuel grain port diameters of 12.7, 25.4, and 38.1 mm at combustion chamber pressures of 0.448 to 0.965 MPa [36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44]. Over 150 hot fires were conducted with gaseous oxygen alongside theoretical thermodynamic calculations which showed (1) little influence of aluminum addition on regression rate, (2) experimentally-determined regression rates of beeswax above those for paraffin reported by Karabeyoglu [3] but below those for beeswax reported by Putnam [35] at similar conditions; namely, oxidizer mass fluxes between 0.7 and 1.75 g/cm 2 s. Experimental efforts in these studies were plagued with low oxidizer mass flow rates (0.5-0.95 equivalence ratios), though in the most recent work attempts at increasing the mass flow rate of gaseous oxygen proved successful [44].…”

Section: B Beeswax 1) Evaluation As a Hybrid Rocket Fuelmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Centrifugal Casting of Paraffin and Beeswax for Hybrid Rockets

Stober

Sanchez

Wanyiri

et al. 2020

AIAA Propulsion and Energy 2020 Forum

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A high-level research framework is presented which seeks to navigate the barriers associated with reusing wax phase change material onboard a satellite as a hybrid rocket fuel for de-orbit or other in-space propulsion needs, while also conducting fundamental studies of the fluid mechanics and heat transfer phenomena which drive the cooling and solidification of wax within a horizontal rotating cylinder in various gravitational and thermal environments. A detailed review of past work in the area of beeswax fuel for hybrid chemical propulsion is reported and served to motivate consideration of this fuel for centrifugal casting efforts, due to previously reported values of regression rate comparable to that of paraffin wax. The production process of beeswax fuel from beekeeping detritus was perfected and documented. Analysis of the shrinkage of beeswax and the neat Candlewic FR5560 paraffin wax used herein determined a volume shrinkage percentage during liquid to solid phase transition of 18.7 ± 0.62 and 13.3 ± 0.22%, respectively. An image analysis routine was developed in order to automate the process of determining the instantaneous solidification rate for each one-second timestep through the centrifugal casting process of paraffin and beeswax fuel grain sizes common for small-scale hybrid rockets. Beeswax completed solidification in 22% less time than paraffin under identical conditions but exhibited more coning of resulting solid wax. Calculated time-and space-averaged solidification rates for paraffin and beeswax were 0.017 and 0.028 mm/s, respectively, within a 50.8 mm inner diameter, 57.15 mm outer diameter, and 254 mm length polycarbonate tube. Careful analysis, however, shows that instantaneous solidification rate increases very slightly but steadily over time for both paraffin and beeswax, though the rate increase is greater for beeswax. The image analysis routine was most effective when applied to the beeswax solidification process as compared to that of paraffin, as the solid/liquid interface is considerably more salient in beeswax due to a distinct color change upon solidification. Dye will be used with paraffin casting in the future with the goal of improving solid/liquid phase contrast.

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Section: B Beeswax 1) Evaluation As a Hybrid Rocket Fuelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: B Beeswax 1) Evaluation As a Hybrid Rocket Fuelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Centrifugal Casting of Paraffin and Beeswax for Hybrid Rockets

Stober

Sanchez

Wanyiri

et al. 2020

AIAA Propulsion and Energy 2020 Forum

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Similar to other universities worldwide project-based-learning, an effective organization form of Problem Based Learning (PBL) is a corner stone in the engineering curriculum. These projects enable students to synthesize knowledge by for example, a Design Synthesis Exercise or Capstone project [2] [3]'. Project-based-learning programs have been embraced as effective multifaceted educational means to develop engineering student's skills.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing Bloom’s Hierarchical Learning in Aerospace Engineering – a Case Study of Forensic Engineering Course using a “Chain of Events”

Schuurman

Saunders-Smits

Rans

2018

2018 Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference

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An often heard complaint is the inability of students to apply their learning at a higher level in Bloom's taxonomy. However, the challenge in teaching basic forensic engineering principles to students and achieving a higher Bloom's learning hierarchy is time. As a Master's elective course within a two-year Aerospace Engineering curriculum, limited time is allocated (84 hours). Teaching students the fundamentals of Forensic Engineering, applying them, and synthesize the knowledge in four class hours, plus self-study, over seven weeks is challenging. As such the lecture setup needs to address theory, application, and synthesis in a fundamental, educationally constructive approach. By having a multi-step group exercise which is running concurrently alongside the academic theoretical and hands-on lectures, the students are challenged to apply the concepts learned and synthesize their knowledge. This paper presents a case study: the "Chain of Events" group exercise, which students are required to perform as part of the forensic engineering course. The exercise was mainly developed to bridge the learning gap from application to creation by a problem-based-learning exercise. Furthermore, the exercise prepares students for the hands on exam whereby an actual crash is recreated. Within this paper the Forensic Engineering learning outcomes, the setup of the "Chain of Events" exercise, its results and the evaluation of student performance and satisfaction will be described.

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