PROJECT TITLE: HEAT EXCHANGER/REACTOR FOR ENDOTHERMIC FUELS USING ZEOLITE CATALYSTS
TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Flight speed of hypersonic vehicles is limited because of insufficient cooling capacity in the aircraft fuel. The objective of this program is to create a small, fault-tolerant, catalytic heat exchanger/reactor (CHER) that dramatically increases the heat sink capacity of aircraft fuel. The innovation is an extremely compact heat exchanger core that (1) is coated with zeolite catalyst for cracking blended hydrocarbon fuels, and (2) completely isolates the fuel from the air side of the heat exchanger so that leaks can be detected before the fuel and air can mix. Fuel cracking is strongly endothermic, so the CHER produces a potent chemical heat sink. The compact, fault-tolerant CHER can enable hypersonic flight and boost the efficiency of next-generation turbine engines by enabling high turbine inlet temperatures. The technical objectives of Phase I are to prove the feasibility of the compact, fault-tolerant CHER by (1) demonstrating successful application of zeolite catalysts to prototypical heat exchanger surfaces, and (2) demonstrating fabrication methods for the fault-tolerant heat exchanger core.
POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
The zeolite CHER is compact and lightweight, has low air-side pressure drops, is simple to manufacture, yields improved combustion performance, enables high temperature operation with reduced fuel deposits, and simplifies logistics by using conventional, blended aircraft fuels. Applications include ram air and structural cooling for hypersonic aircraft and turbine vane cooling for next-generation gas turbine engines.
NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Dr. Michael G. Izenson
Creare Incorporated
P.O. Box 71, Etna Road
Hanover , NH 03755
NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR
Creare Incorporated
P.O. Box 71, Etna Road
Hanover , NH 03755-0071