Soluble Nano-Catalysts for High Performance Fuels

New weapons systems that incorporate advanced propulsion technologies, such as high speed turbines, ramjets, scramjets, or pulse detonation engines (PDE) are needed. However, these systems place severe demands on combustion and thus methods to improve the combustion process are also required. In the Phase I portion of the project, TDA Research Inc. (TDA) developed catalysts that are soluble in fuel and therefore can be injected directly into the combustor. We identified catalysts that produced substantial improvements in combustion activity with both a model fuel and JP-10. The addition of only 50 ppm catalyst reduced the temperature required for combustion by about 150°C for both fuels. The overall goal of the Phase II project is to determine how the improvements we measured in our laboratory experiments translate into improved performance in a gas turbine engine. Our test plan includes optimizing the catalyst formulation, identifying the minimum effective concentration, characterizing the catalyst stability and solubility over extended time periods, measuring the effect the catalyst has on combustion intermediates in a facility equipped with optical diagnostics, and finally conducting tests with a full scale turbine engine to measure the catalyst’s effects on combustion stability, efficiency, and emission levels.