SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL AEROSPACE REPORTS

A Biweekly Publication of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
VOLUME 44, ISSUE 14 - JULY 18, 2006

28 PROPELLANTS AND FUELS
Includes rocket propellants, igniters, and oxidizers; their storage and handling procedures; and aircraft fuels.

For nuclear fuels see 73 Nuclear Physics.

For related information see also 07 Aircraft Propulsion and Power; 20 Spacecraft Propulsion and Power; and 44 Energy Production and Conversion.

20060019362 Air Force Inst. of Tech., Wright-Patterson AFB, OH USA

Building a Consensus Forecast for Crude Oil Prices

Burke, Kenneth W; Mar 2006; 78 pp.; In English; Original contains color illustrations Report No.(s): AD-A446182; AFIT/GLM/ENV/06-04; No Copyright; ONLINE: http://hdl.handle.net/100.2/ADA446182; Avail.: CASI: A05, Hardcopy

Skyrocketing fuel prices have stressed the Department of Defense's budget in recent years. In 2001 the DoD spent $4.7 Billion on fuel with the Air Force consuming $2.7 Billion. These figures have grown over due to these increases as well as the increased flying ours to support the Global War On Terror. In fact, the Fiscal Year 2007 budget has already been increased by $1.1 billion, or 1% of the total budget, to accommodate the increased price of fuel. Current forecasts of this resource have yielded poor results, impairing the DoD's ability to budget this critical expense. Further because the forecast are poor, strategic hedging strategies cannot be effectively employed. Because fuel is a significant portion of aircraft operations and maintenance cost it should be considered in the acquisition of new systems, but the current forecast have not provided the accurate data required. Current forecast available to the DOD were examined, and compared to two econometric structural forecast models. The performance of these structural models was then compared to the benchmark forecasts for energy provided by the Energy Information Agency. A consensus price forecast was constructed from these alternative forecasts. DTIC

Costs; Crude Oil; Defense Program; Federal Budgets; Forecasting

20060019497 Air Force Research Lab., Edwards AFB, CA USA

Preliminary Heat Transfer Characteristics of RP-2 Fuel as Tested in the High Heat Flux Facility (POSTPRINT)

Irvine, S A; Burns, R M; Nov 21, 2005; 9 pp.; In English Contract(s)/Grant(s): Proj-4847 Report No.(s): AD-A446414; AFRL-PR-ED-TP-2005-454; No Copyright; ONLINE: http://hdl.handle.net/100.2/ADA446414; Avail.: CASI: A02, Hardcopy

In recent years, Government and industry have both documented considerable interest in developing reusable, long-life, 75 liquid hydrocarbon fueled rocket engines. However, in order to design an engine with these characteristics, a more complete understanding of the fuel's liquid-side fluid characteristics, while in engine regenerative-cooling channels, is needed. To add to this required understanding, experiments are currently being conducted at the Air Force Research Laboratory's High Heat Flux Facility (HHFF), located at Edwards AFB, CA. The HHFF is designed to explore many fuel related rocket engine design considerations (e.g., high aspect ratio cooling channels, various fuel thermal stability issues, material compatibility, heat transfer capability, effects related to dissolved oxygen or specific sulfur species contained within the fuel, etc.) Recently, the Air Force has been studying RP-2 (Ultra-Low Sulfur RP-1) in order to establish an accurate baseline for future experiments in the HHFF. These experiments were conducted using low overall heat transfer coefficients and wall temperatures. This paper will present and discuss the results of recent Air Force experiments at HHFF. DTIC

Heat Flux; Heat Transfer; Liquid Fuels; Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines

20060019726 Air Force Research Lab., Wright-Patterson AFB, OH USA

DNA Isolation of Microbial Contaminants in Aviation Turbine Fuel via Traditional Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Direct PCR. Preliminary Results

Denaro, Tracy R; Chelgren, Sarah K; Lang, Jara N; Strobel, Ellen M; Balster, Lori M T; Vangsness, Marlin D; Nov 2005; 24 pp.; In English Contract(s)/Grant(s): F33615-03-2-2347; Proj-3048 Report No.(s): AD-A446701; No Copyright; Avail.: CASI: A03, Hardcopy

Microbially contaminated aviation fuel cause the Air Force increased maintenance and replacement costs from problems such as fuel gauge malfunctions, fuel line and filter plugging, and corrosion. As a result, there is considerable interest in identifying microbial growth and finding strategies to mitigate it. Previous research to isolate and identify aviation fuel microbial contaminants has used cultivation-based methodologies. This study aimed to investigate newer molecular methods to more comprehensively characterize the bioburden in aviation fuel supplies. Several fuel samples were analyzed for bacterial contamination using two distinct methods: a cultivation-independent method (direct PCR) and a traditional cultivationdependant method. A total of 36 bacterial genera were identified, including 28 genera which have not been previously reported in aviation fuel. Nearly 62% of the new bacterial genera were isolated with the cultivation-independent method only, 33% with both methods, and only 5% with the cultivation-dependant method only. DTIC

Aircraft Fuels; Contaminants; Deoxyribonucleic Acid; Isolation; Microorganisms; Turbines

20060020829 University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA USA

Nozzle Plume Impingement on Spacecraft Surfaces: Effects of Surface Roughness (POSTPRINT)

Ngalande, C; Killingsworth, M; Lilly, T; Gimelshein, S; Ketsdever, A; Jun 2005; 15 pp.; In English Contract(s)/Grant(s): Proj-5026 Report No.(s): AD-A446946; No Copyright; ONLINE: http://hdl.handle.net/100.2/ADA446946; Avail.: CASI: A03, Hardcopy

An experimental and numerical effort was undertaken to assess the effects of a cold gas (T0-300 K) nozzle plume impinging on simulated spacecraft surfaces. The nozzle flow impingement is investigated experimentally using a nano-Newton resolution force balance and numerically using the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) numerical technique. The Reynolds number range investigated in this study is from approximately 2 to 350 using nitrogen propellant. The thrust produced by the nozzle was first assessed on a force balance to provide a baseline case. Subsequently, aluminum plates were attached to the same force balance parallel to the plume flow to simulate spacecraft surfaces in proximity to the thruster. Three plates were used in this study, an electropolished plate with smooth surface, and two rough surface plates with equally spaced rectangular and triangular grooves. A 15% degradation in thrust was observed both experimentally and numerically for the plate relative to the free plume expansion case. The effect of surface roughness on thrust was found to be small due to molecules backscattered from the plate to the nozzle plenum wall. Additionally, the influence of surface roughness in the diverging part of the nozzle on thrust was examined numerically and found to be significant at Reynolds numbers less than 10. DTIC

Cold Gas; Exhaust Gases; Impingement; Plumes; Surface Roughness; Surface Roughness Effects

Source: NASA