Energetic Secondary Fuel Injection for Propulsion System Performance Improvement

A joint analytical/experimental program to develop technologies to improve thermal output from combustors in propulsion systems while ensuring their stable operation is proposed. The program will exploit the use of energetic materials as secondary fuels to be injected suitably into the combustors to both increase their thermal output and ensure the mitigation of any instability that may arise in these systems. The mitigation will be accomplished through removal of the source giving rise to these instabilities and/or through an active/adaptive controller that will regulate the secondary fuel injection to ensure well-controlled stable combustion. The successful completion of this effort will result in new technology that will enable the development of cleaner, leaner propulsion systems with high energy output. The accompanying development of modeling technologies for these systems will enable the transition of these techniques to full scale industrial systems. Our subcontractors and consultant from U.MD, PSU and MIT are leading experts in critical technologies relevant to this effort.