Preparation and properties of high-energy-density aluminum/boroncontaining gelled fuels

Energetic nanofluid fuel has caught the attention of the field of aerospace liquid propellant for its high energy density(HED), but it suffers from the inevitable solid-liquid phase separation problem. To resolve this problem, herein we synthesized the high-Al-/B-containing(up to 30%(mass)) HED gelled fuels, with low-molecular-mass organic gellant Z, which show high net heat of combustion(NHOC), density, storage stability, and thixotropic properties. The characterizations indicate that the application of energetic particles to the gelled fuels obviously destroys their fibrous network structures but can provide the new particle-gellant gelation microstructures, resulting in the comparable stability between 1.0%(mass) Z/JP-10 + 30%(mass) Al or B and pure JP-10 gelled fuel. Moreover, the gelled fuels with high-content Al or B exhibit high shear-thinning property, recovery capability, and mechanical strength, which are favorable for their storage and utilization. Importantly, the prepared 1.0%(mass) Z/JP-10 + 30%(mass) B(or 1.0%(mass) Z/JP-10 + 30%(mass) Al) shows the density and NHOC 1.27 times(1.30) and 1.43 times(1.21)higher than pure JP-10, respectively. This work provides a facile and valid approach to the manufacturing of HED gelled fuels with high content of energetic particles for gel propellants.

Review on the Relationship Between Liquid Aerospace Fuel Composition and Their Physicochemical Properties

The development of advanced air transportation has raised new demands for high-performance liquid hydrocarbon fuels.However,the measurement of fuel properties is time-consuming,cost-intensive,and limited to the operating conditions.The physicochemical properties of aerospace fuels are directly infl uenced by chemical composition.Thus,a thorough investigation should be conducted on the inherent relationship between fuel properties and composition for the design and synthesis of high-grade fuels and the prediction of fuel properties in the future.This work summarized the eff ects of fuel composition and hydrocarbon molecular structure on the fuel physicochemical properties,including density,net heat of combustion(NHOC),low-temperature fl uidity(viscosity and freezing point),fl ash point,and thermal-oxidative stability.Several correlations and predictions of fuel properties from chemical composition were reviewed.Additionally,we correlated the fuel properties with hydrogen/carbon molar ratios(n H/C)and molecular weight(M).The results from the least-square method implicate that the coupling of H/C molar ratio and M is suitable for the estimation of density,NHOC,viscosity and eff ectiveness for the design,manufacture,and evaluation of aviation hydrocarbon fuels.

Prediction of selected biodiesel fuel properties using artificial neural network

Biodiesel is an alternative fuel to replace fossil- based diesel fuel. It has fuel properties similar to diesel which are generally determined experimentally. The experimental determination of various properties of biodiesel is costly, time consuming and a tedious process. To solve these problems, artificial neural network （ANN） has been considered as a vital tool for estimating the fuel properties of biodiesel, especially from its fatty acid （FA） composition. In this study, four ANNs have been designed and trained to predict the cetane number （CN）, flash point （FP）, kinematic viscosity （KV） and density of biodiesel using ANN with logsig and purelin transfer functions in the hidden layer of all the networks. The five most prevalent FAs from 55 feedstocks found in the literature utilized as the input parameters for the model are palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and linolenie acids except for density network with a sixth parameter （temperature）. Other FAs that are present in the biodiesels have been considered based on the number of carbon atom chains and the level of saturation. From this study, the prediction accuracy and the average absolute deviation of the networks are CN （96.69%; 1.637%）, KV （95.80%; 1.638%）, FP （99.07%; 0.997%） and density （99.40%; 0.101%）. These values are reasonably better compared to previous studies on empirical correlations and ANN predictions of these fuel properties found in literature. Hence, the present study demonstrates the ability of ANN model to predict fuel properties of biodiesel with high accuracy.

High-energy-density gelled fuels with high stability and shear thinning performance

Gelled fuels are the very promising propellants for new-generation rocket and ramjet propulsion.Here we report a new type of low-molecular mass organic gellant(Z),and prepared four kinds of stable gelled fuels based on HD-01,HD-03,RP-3 and QC liquid fuels,with the critical gellant concentration less than 1%(mass).The characterizations show that the gellant can form 3D network structure,via hydrogen bonding,π-πstacking and van der Waals forces,to fix fuel molecules during the formation of gelled fuels.So,the gelled fuels show high stability,with the remaining gel mass of 0.25%(mass)Z/HD-01 more than 90%even at high centrifugal speed of 7500 r·min^(-1),but the rheological property test shows that all gelled fuels have obvious shear thinning property,which benefits its storage in gelled state while supply in liquid state.The gelation of liquid fuels by gellant Z can increase the volumetric net heat of combustion(for HD-01,it increases from 39.58 MJ·L^(-1) to 40.76 MJ·L^(-1) with 1%(mass)Z),and liquefied gelled fuels show the comparable ignition delay time with the pristine liquid fuels.So,the gelled fuels made by gellant Z have better stability,shear thinning and combustion performances,which have great potential for the practical application.

Superhydrophobic and superlipophilic biochar produced from microalga torrefaction and modification for upgrading fuel properties

Torrefaction operation is an essential pathway for solid biofuel upgrading,and good hydrophobicity of torrefied biochar is conducive to its storage.Herein,a two-stage treatment of torrefaction followed by modification by hexadecyltrimethoxysilane was adopted to improve the moisture resistance performance of biochar.This two-stage treatment process led to a longer torrefied microalgal biochar preservation time(60-200%improved)and great superhydrophobicity and superlipophilicity.Therefore,the modified microalgal biochar could significantly adsorb leaking oil for environmental remediation and further improve the calorific value of the biochar.The obtained results indicated that the oil adsorption capacity of modified microalgal biochar was correlated to torrefaction temperature and oil species.Specifically,the oil adsorption capacity was enhanced up to 70-80%from the modification process when comparing to raw microalga.Increasing the torrefaction temperature enhanced the adsorption quantity of the modified microalgal biochar.By adsorbing the oil,the calorific value of oilchar,namely,biochar with adsorbed oil,could be higher than 40 MJ kg^(−1).Furthermore,the pyrolysis and combustion characteristics suggested that biochar stability gradually rose as the torrefaction temperature increased.By comprehensively analyzing and comparing the fuel performance of the modified microalgal biochar with previous literature,the obtained modified microalgal biochar possessed better fuel properties and environmental sustainability.

Wild melon: a novel non-edible feedstock for bioenergy

In the present research work, a non-edible oil source Cucumis melo var. agrestis （wild melon） was systematically identified and studied for biodiesel production and its characterization. The extracted oil was 29.1% of total dry seed weight. The free fatty acid value of the oil was found to be 0.64%, and the single-step alkaline transesterification method was used for conversion of fatty acids into their respective methyl esters. The maximum conversion efficiency of fatty acids was obtained at 0.4 wt% NaOH （used as catalyst）, 30% （methanol to oil, v/v） methanol amount, 60 ℃ reaction temperature, 600-rpm agitation rate and 60-min reaction time. Under these optimal conditions, the conversion efficiency of fatty acid was 92%. However, in the case of KOH as catalyst, the highest conversion （85%） of fatty acids was obtained at 40% methanol to oil ratio, 1.28 wt% KOH, 60 ℃ reaction temperature, 600-rpm agitation rate and 45 min of reaction time. Qualitatively, biodiesel was characterized through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy （FFIR） and gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy （GC-MS）. FTIR results demonstrated a strong peak at 1742 cm-1, showing carbonyl groups （C=O） of methyl esters. However, GC-MS results showed the presence of twelve methyl esters comprised of lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, non-decanoic acid, hexadecanoic acid, octadecadienoic acid and octadecynoic acid. The fuel properties were found to fall within the range recommended by the international biodiesel standard, i.e., American Society of Testing Materials （ASTM）： flash point of 91℃, density of 0.873 kg/L, viscosity of 5.35 cSt, pour point of - 13 ℃, cloud point of -10 ℃, total acid number of 0.242 mg KOH/g and sulfur content of 0.0043 wt%. The present work concluded the potential of wild melon seed oil as excellent non-edible source of bioenergy.

Multi-objective optimization of combustion, performance and emission parameters in a jatropha biodiesel engine using non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II

The present work studies and identifies the different variables that affect the output parameters involved in a single cylinder direct injection compression ignition （CI） engine using jatropha biodiesel. Response surface methodology based on Central composite design （CCD） is used to design the experiments. Mathematical models are developed for combustion parameters （Brake specific fuel consumption （BSFC） and peak cylinder pressure （Pmax））, performance parameter brake thermal efficiency （BTE） and emission parameters （CO, NOx, unburnt HC and smoke） using regression techniques. These regression equations are further utilized for simultaneous optimization of combustion （BSFC, Pmax）, performance （BTE） and emission （CO, NOx, HC, smoke） parameters. As the objective is to maximize BTE and minimize BSFC, Pmax, CO, NOx, HC, smoke, a multi- objective optimization problem is formulated. Non- dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II is used in predict- ing the Pareto optimal sets of solution. Experiments are performed at suitable optimal solutions for predicting the combustion, performance and emission parameters to check the adequacy of the proposed model. The Pareto optimal sets of solution can be used as guidelines for the end users to select optimal combination of engine outputand emission parameters depending upon their own requirements.

Potential hybrid feedstock for biodiesel production in the tropics

Recently, mixture of different oils at various proportions have been used as feedstock for biodiesel production. The primary aim is to improve fuel properties which are strongly influenced by the fatty acid composition of the individual oil that makes up the feedstock mix. The tropics are renowned for abundant oil-bearing crops of which palm kernel oil （PKO） from palm seed and groundnut oil （GNO） are prominent. This present paper investigated biodiesel production from hybrid oil （HO） of PKO （medium carbon chain and highly saturated oil） and GNO （long carbon chain and highly unsaturated oil） at 50/ 50 （v/v） blending. The principal fatty acids （FAs） in the HO are oleic （35.62%） and lauric acids （24.23%） with 47.80% of saturated FA and 52.26% of unsaturated FA contents. The chemical conversion of the oil to methyl ester （ME） gave 86.56% yield. Fuel properties of hybrid oil methyl ester （the HOME） were determined in accordance with standard test methods and were found to comply with both ASTM D6751 and EN 14214 standards. The oxidative stability, cetane number and kinematic viscosity （KV） of HOME were observed to be improved when compared with those of GNO methyl ester from single parent oil, which could be accredited to the improved FA composition of the HO. The KV （3.69 minE/s） of HOME obtained in this paper was remarkably low compared with those reported in literature for most biodiesels. This value suggests better flow, atomization, spray and combustion of this fuel. Conclusively, the binary blend of oils can be a viable option to improve the fuel properties ofbiodiesel feedstock coupled with reduced cost.