Polycyclic alkanes based high density hydrocarbon fuels preparation and evaluation for LFRJ application

• Published in: RSC advances 2014-01, Vol.4 (85), p.45407-45414
• Main Authors: Krishnamachary, Senapthi, Krishna Mohan, S., Desingou, Jayaraman, Jena, Sunita Devi, Vivek, R., Kumar, Trivedi Darshan, Ramanujachari, V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aircraft fuels; Alkanes; Density; Fuel systems; Fuels; High density; Hydrocarbon fuels; Jet fuels
• ISSN: 2046-2069; 2046-2069
• DOI: 10.1039/C4RA07749K

Two polycyclic alkane based high density thermally stable hydrocarbon fuels DPCR-2 and DPCR-3 were prepared from processed special petroleum fraction DPCR-1 for LFRJ application. These fuels were subjected to detailed physico-chemical characterization and found to have improved density (0.844 to 0.846 g cm −3 @ 20 °C), low aromatic content (62 °C). These newly developed fuels exhibit better properties than aviation turbine fuel (ATF/Jet A-1). The theoretical as well as experimental ramjet performance such as characteristic velocity and chamber pressure for both the fuels are higher than ordinary Jet-A1 and comparable with similar high density T-6 fuel. These fuels show superior storage characteristics in an elastomeric fuel system such as acrylonitrile butadiene rubber used in missile applications. DPCR-2 and DPCR-3 developed for LFRJ application are found to be very promising in terms of performance, density, availability and cost effectiveness in comparison with Jet A-1 fuel which is presently being used in a number of air breathing propulsion systems.