A MEMS Pulsed Injection Electrostatic Atomizer for Small Engines

The Army needs energy dense, portable power generation and propulsion units. In order to reduce the consumables and simplify logistics, very small engines (defined as a power rating of less than 5 hP) need to be fueled with readily available logistic fuels, such as JP-8 and diesel. Unfortunately, these fuels are extremely difficult to vaporize and burn, which has hindered their use in spark ignition engines and especially Direct Injection Spark Ignition (DISI) engines. Hence, new atomization technologies are needed to directly inject micron sized JP-8 liquid droplets into the chamber so that they can burn within the short time available for combustion. Therefore, TDA Research proposes a MEMS pulsed injection electrostatic fuel atomizer to produce micron-sized droplets. In Phase I the atomizer will be designed to charge inject JP-8 into a spark ignition engine. The University of Colorado will predict the secondary droplet breakup behavior upon electrostatic excitation. TDA will construct prototypes for liquid spray experiments. In Phase II we will develop the capability to use the MEMS atomizers to pulse inject the fuel. After development, MEMS pulsed injection electrostatic fuel atomizers will be built and tested. One system will be delivered to the Army.