ABSTRACT

A new class of high-energy fuels based on strained hydrocarbons is being de-

veloped. Thorough understanding of the combustion of these fuels is needed in

order to achieve a major breakthrough in the quest to attain increased range

and speed for missiles and other Navy propulsion systems. The properties of

fuels tend to microexplode and rapidly release their energy and this introduces

a new concern because microexploding fuels have not been tested and evaluated

in closed combustion systems such as those relevant to the Navy. Another basic

characteristic of most of the proposed fuels is their propensity to soot. There-

fore, techniques such as vortical control and timed fuel injection are investigated

to control the formation and destruction of soot. Some of these fuels are also

not in liquid form at standard operating temperatures. If they are diluted in

some other liquid fuel, one has to burn it as a slurry or if the base fuel quickly

vaporizes, as a gaseous fuel with distributed condensed particles of high-energy

fuels. The mixing and combustion characteristics of such a multiphase mixture

need to be understood.