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Fuel Options for Next Generation Chemical Propulsion
Chung K. Law
Center for Combustion Energy, Tsinghua University
and
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University
Abstract
This talk was delivered as the Dryden Lecture at the 2011 Aerospace Sciences Meeting of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). In this lecture the state of research on developing fuel options for next generation chemical propulsion is reviewed for aviation fuels and energetic fuels. For aviation fuels, the development is based on considerations of cost, energy security and climate change, with Fischer-Tropsch synthetic fuels and biofuels hold potential as alternative aviation fuels. The need for basic research to develop predictive capability for the oxidative chemistry of evolving fuels in evolving engine designs is emphasized, illustrated by the intricate reaction pathways and the enormity of the reaction mechanisms involved. Recent research activities towards achieving the goal of fuel design are discussed through the development of detailed mechanisms, reduced mechanisms, and surrogate fuels. For the development of high-energy-density propellants, advances in several classes of materials are discussed, including metallized and hypergolic propellants, and propellants with strained and functionalized molecules as well as nanoparticle addition. The impact of the recent progress in chemical synthesis, materials science and nano science on these advances is noted.
Seminar Biography of Chung K. Law
Professor Chung K. Law is the Robert H. Goddard Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University. His research interests cover various physical and chemical aspects of fundamental combustion phenomena, with applications to propulsion, energy, fuels, and the environment. He has published over 375 papers in rigorously referred journals. He is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the American Physical Society (APS), a member of the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS), a past president of the Combustion Institute, the director of the Combustion Energy Frontier Research Center of the US Department of Energy and of the Center for Combustion Energy at Tsinghua University, and a recipient of a number of professional and best paper awards for technical contributions. |
