Theoretical and Experimental Heat of Combustion Analysis of Paraffin-Based Fuels as Preburn Characterization for Hybrid Rocket

The energy characteristics and theoretical performance of the hybrid rocket fuels are discussed in this paper. Aluminum (Al) and boron (B) metal additives were used to increase the energy density of the paraffin-based solid fuels. To predict the energy characteristics, the heat of combustion was eva...

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Main Authors: Yash Pal, Anthony Raja, Kavitha Gopalakrishnan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Instituto de Aeronáutica e Espaço (IAE) 2020-10-01
Series:Journal of Aerospace Technology and Management
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.jatm.com.br/jatm/article/view/1180
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author Yash Pal
Anthony Raja
Kavitha Gopalakrishnan
author_facet Yash Pal
Anthony Raja
Kavitha Gopalakrishnan
author_sort Yash Pal
collection DOAJ
description The energy characteristics and theoretical performance of the hybrid rocket fuels are discussed in this paper. Aluminum (Al) and boron (B) metal additives were used to increase the energy density of the paraffin-based solid fuels. To predict the energy characteristics, the heat of combustion was evaluated by adiabatic bomb calorimetry. Theoretical performance parameters such as specific impulse (Isp), flame temperature, and characteristic velocity were obtained with NASA Chemical Equilibrium with Applications (CEA) code. Calorimetric test results revealed that paraffin/polyethylene/boron (P/PE/B)-based fuel formulations exhibited the highest heat of combustion among all the tested fuels. The heat of combustion value of the P/PE/B sample at 25 wt% B loading was found to be 9612 ±16 cal/g and 9293±17 cal/g for the P/PE/Al fuel formulation. The CEA results showed that the addition of Al to paraffin is noneffective in improving specific impulse performance. When B loading increased from 5 to 25 wt% in the P/PE/B, the Isp increased by 47 s compared to pure paraffin. A specific impulse increase implies the possible propellant mass saving. The reduction of the oxidizer and fuel masses may yield increased payload performance for given boundary conditions. The P/PE/B25 formulation has reported the highest value of characteristics velocity (C*) compared to other paraffin-based formulation.
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spelling doaj.art-1d3b754352ee4cedb62c4f59f4decebb2022-12-22T00:44:00ZengInstituto de Aeronáutica e Espaço (IAE)Journal of Aerospace Technology and Management2175-91462020-10-01121Theoretical and Experimental Heat of Combustion Analysis of Paraffin-Based Fuels as Preburn Characterization for Hybrid RocketYash PalAnthony RajaKavitha GopalakrishnanThe energy characteristics and theoretical performance of the hybrid rocket fuels are discussed in this paper. Aluminum (Al) and boron (B) metal additives were used to increase the energy density of the paraffin-based solid fuels. To predict the energy characteristics, the heat of combustion was evaluated by adiabatic bomb calorimetry. Theoretical performance parameters such as specific impulse (Isp), flame temperature, and characteristic velocity were obtained with NASA Chemical Equilibrium with Applications (CEA) code. Calorimetric test results revealed that paraffin/polyethylene/boron (P/PE/B)-based fuel formulations exhibited the highest heat of combustion among all the tested fuels. The heat of combustion value of the P/PE/B sample at 25 wt% B loading was found to be 9612 ±16 cal/g and 9293±17 cal/g for the P/PE/Al fuel formulation. The CEA results showed that the addition of Al to paraffin is noneffective in improving specific impulse performance. When B loading increased from 5 to 25 wt% in the P/PE/B, the Isp increased by 47 s compared to pure paraffin. A specific impulse increase implies the possible propellant mass saving. The reduction of the oxidizer and fuel masses may yield increased payload performance for given boundary conditions. The P/PE/B25 formulation has reported the highest value of characteristics velocity (C*) compared to other paraffin-based formulation.https://www.jatm.com.br/jatm/article/view/1180Paraffin waxHybrid rocketHeat of combustionSpecific impulseCombustion flame temperature
spellingShingle Yash Pal
Anthony Raja
Kavitha Gopalakrishnan
Theoretical and Experimental Heat of Combustion Analysis of Paraffin-Based Fuels as Preburn Characterization for Hybrid Rocket
Journal of Aerospace Technology and Management
Paraffin wax
Hybrid rocket
Heat of combustion
Specific impulse
Combustion flame temperature
title Theoretical and Experimental Heat of Combustion Analysis of Paraffin-Based Fuels as Preburn Characterization for Hybrid Rocket
title_full Theoretical and Experimental Heat of Combustion Analysis of Paraffin-Based Fuels as Preburn Characterization for Hybrid Rocket
title_fullStr Theoretical and Experimental Heat of Combustion Analysis of Paraffin-Based Fuels as Preburn Characterization for Hybrid Rocket
title_full_unstemmed Theoretical and Experimental Heat of Combustion Analysis of Paraffin-Based Fuels as Preburn Characterization for Hybrid Rocket
title_short Theoretical and Experimental Heat of Combustion Analysis of Paraffin-Based Fuels as Preburn Characterization for Hybrid Rocket
title_sort theoretical and experimental heat of combustion analysis of paraffin based fuels as preburn characterization for hybrid rocket
topic Paraffin wax
Hybrid rocket
Heat of combustion
Specific impulse
Combustion flame temperature
url https://www.jatm.com.br/jatm/article/view/1180
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AT anthonyraja theoreticalandexperimentalheatofcombustionanalysisofparaffinbasedfuelsaspreburncharacterizationforhybridrocket
AT kavithagopalakrishnan theoreticalandexperimentalheatofcombustionanalysisofparaffinbasedfuelsaspreburncharacterizationforhybridrocket