EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE COMBUSTION OF ORGANIC-GELLANT-BASED GEL FUEL DROPLETS

摘要

The phenomena involved in the combustion of two organic-gellant-based gelled fuels, one non-metallized and one metallized, were investigated. The non-metal part consisted by 15% organic gellant and 85% JP-8. A high-speed (up to 2,000 frames/sec) digital video camera was employed in the present study. The combustion characteristics of the organic-gellant-based gel fuels were found to be different from those of inorganic-gellant-based gels. In both the metallized and the non-metallized gel cases, a non-permeable elastic film, consisted mainly by the gellant, was formed around the droplet and prevented fuel evaporation. This produced an expanding vapor bubble in the droplet interior that resulted in significant swelling of the droplet. At a certain stage, the film was ruptured, allowing the fuel vapors to escape and it collapsed on the droplet surface. This process repeated itself until all combustible material was consumed.