The development of advanced combustion and high-Mach propulsion systems require novel thermal management strategies due to high heat loads generated during flight.  A potential strategy is to use hydrocarbon fuels as the primary on-board heat sink.  Heat absorbed by fuel sensible heating (e.g., CpΔT) can be supplemented with deliberate endothermic (e.g., heat-absorbing) reactions via thermal and/or catalytic cracking decomposition chemistry.  Although the endothermic decomposition can provide a significant amount of cooling capacity, an undesirable consequence is the formation of carbonaceous deposits (also known as coking) which can reduce fuel flow, increase resistance to heat transfer and foul injector nozzles.  Therefore, a primary need is the development of viable fuel chemistry and engineering strategies to provide the required heat sink while mitigating undesirable deposit formation.  Improved understanding of the complex relationships between fuel chemical and physical properties on the corresponding reactivity and deposition characteristics is needed to provide the requisite basis for the development of viable fuel formulations.  Experimental and computational efforts are being performed using single components, model solvents and fully-formulated fuels to improve the understanding of the correlations between fuel chemistry and reaction conditions, including the use of catalysts, on fuel performance.  An overview of methodologies being employed and representative results and relevant findings from experimental, analytical and computational methodologies employed will be presented.<br/>

Reactivity of hydrocarbons under conditions relevant to high-speed flight systems

255th National Meeting (2018)

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