Session: 15-01-01: ASME International Undergraduate Research and Design Exposition

Paper Number: 151596

151596 - Combustion Characteristics of Iron Particles in Jet Fuel Droplets 

In this study, the effect of iron particles on the burn rate of jet fuel droplets was observed using various concentrations of surfactants and iron nanoparticles. The surfactants were used to increase the burn rates of the fuel by stabilizing the iron particles in the fuel mixture. This would allow for greater fuel efficiency, making the use of jet fuel with iron particles more advantageous as opposed to jet fuel without the particles. Jet fuel droplets were used in place of full fuel tanks to minimize costs and make the controlled variables easier to isolate. The mixture of jet fuel and iron particles was created by measuring out an amount of jet fuel and then adding surfactant, if necessary. Finally, iron nanoparticles were added to the jet fuel. Once the solution was prepared, it was subjected to sonication for fifteen minutes. Sonication is a process that uses sound waves to agitate particles in a sample, ensuring that the iron particles would stay suspended in the fuel. This process was repeated for multiple different concentrations and surfactant levels to give a good range of data values. The fuel was then put into a droplet that became suspended on a set of silicon carbon fibers and recorded using a high-speed camera so data could be collected by the computer program. The droplet was ignited using hot wires, that when a current was sent through the wires, heat was generated. At the same time, a code started the camera recording so that human error was not a factor when acquiring the recordings. The hot wire was pulled away from the droplet during burning using solenoids to not add extra heat to the experiment and to keep the data in a controlled environment. The video was then analyzed using a computer program to determine the rate at which the diameter of the droplet decreased. The program checked the number of pixels that the droplet took up in the image. Then, it exported that data to a results file that was imported into a document that allowed for the pixels to be converted to SI units. This data was then calculated in an Excel file and graphed to find the burn rate of the droplet mixture. From the experiment, it can be concluded that adding iron particles increases the burn rate of jet fuel with lower concentrations, showing more stability within the data sets. Mainly, the most effective mixtures are those that do not include surfactants for particle stability in fluid, as the particles are more stable without surfactants.

Presenting Author: Lucas Boger Wilkes University

Presenting Author Biography: Lucas Boger is a mechanical engineering undergraduate student from Wilkes University. He is from Center Valley, Pennsylvania and graduated from Southern Lehigh Highschool in 2022. Lucas has been conducting this research over the summer and between classes during his fall semester at Wilkes to be prepared for this presentation.

Authors:

Lucas Boger Wilkes University
Frank Yuscavage Wilkes University
Mohsen Ghamari Wilkes University