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.