Student-Faculty Research on the Combustion of Non-Conventional Fuels in Hybrid Propellant Rocket Engine in a Wide Range of Oxidizer-to-Fuel Ratios

Naoumov, Viatcheslav; Masoud, Nidal Al; Butt, Jalal; Correa, Calvin; Parmelee, David F.; Couillard, Michael; Nguyen, Hoan; Ampofo, Jeffrey; Patel, Keval

doi:10.2514/6.2020-0068

Cited by 2 publications

(5 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]. An idiosyncrasy of this series of studies is the novel attempt to estimate unburned fuel losses using thermocouples placed downstream of the nozzle exit, predominantly discussed in Naoumov 2015 [39].…”

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

confidence: 99%

“…The publication most focused on beeswax and beeswax with aluminum additive results is that of Naoumov 2016a [40]. Throughout this series of studies, fuel grains were drip casted and geometric voids were observed, though improvements in the drip casting process were noted by Naoumov 2020 [44] which were characterized by low-conductivity casting materials housing the solidifying wax.…”

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

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

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%

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

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

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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“…Jayapal et al [29] reported that the activation energy of BW-EV fuel was reduced with the addition of AC. Previous research has demonstrated that the regression rates of BW and paraffin wax are comparable [47,48]. Putnam [44] performed experiments with BW-nitrous oxide hybrid rockets.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to the experimental findings, BW-oxygen consistently had a comparable regression rate to paraffin wax. Naoumov et al [48] developed regression rates data for beeswax and paraffin wax with 10% micro-aluminum loading in each fuel through a series of hot-fire tests. The results showed a marginal improvement in the regression rate with the addition of aluminum.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beeswax–EVA/Activated-Charcoal-Based Fuels for Hybrid Rockets: Thermal and Ballistic Evaluation

Mahottamananda

Pal²,

Dinesh³

et al. 2022

Energies

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Beeswax (C46H92O) is a naturally derived substance that has the potential to be used as a solid fuel for hybrid rocket applications and as a substitute for paraffin wax fuel in hybrid rockets. BW burns more efficiently than paraffin wax because of the oxygen molecule it contains. The low thermal stability and poor mechanical properties of BW limit its practical use for upper-stage propulsion applications, and these issues are rarely addressed in the literature on hybrid rockets. This study investigates the thermal stability and ballistic properties of BW using ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) and activated charcoal (AC) as an additive. The thermal stability of BW–EVA/AC fuel compositions was analyzed using a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). The thermal stability of the blended BW compositions improved significantly. A laboratory-scale hybrid rocket motor was used to evaluate such aspects of ballistic performance as regression rate, characteristic velocity, and combustion efficiency. The results revealed that the pure BW exhibited a higher regression rate of 26.5% at an oxidizer mass flux of 96.4 kg/m2-s compared to BW–EVA/AC blends. The addition of EVA and AC to BW was found to increase the experimental characteristic velocity and combustion efficiency. The combustion efficiency of BW-based fuel was improved from 62% to 94% when 20 wt.% EVA and 2 wt.% AC were added into the fuel matrix.

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Student-Faculty Research on the Combustion of Non-Conventional Fuels in Hybrid Propellant Rocket Engine in a Wide Range of Oxidizer-to-Fuel Ratios

Cited by 2 publications

References 10 publications

Centrifugal Casting of Paraffin and Beeswax for Hybrid Rockets

Centrifugal Casting of Paraffin and Beeswax for Hybrid Rockets

Beeswax–EVA/Activated-Charcoal-Based Fuels for Hybrid Rockets: Thermal and Ballistic Evaluation

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