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Improved Kinetic Models for High Speed Combustion Simulation

Award Information
Agency: Department of Defense
Branch: Air Force
Contract: FA8650-06-C-2658
Agency Tracking Number: O054-002-1006
Amount: $749,999.00
Phase: Phase II
Program: STTR
Solicitation Topic Code: OSD05-T002
Solicitation Number: N/A
Timeline
Solicitation Year: 2005
Award Year: 2006
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): 2006-05-18
Award End Date (Contract End Date): 2008-05-18
Small Business Information
77 West 200 South, Suite 210
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
United States
DUNS: 612498220
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Christopher Montgomer
 Senior Engineer
 (801) 364-6925
 montgomery@reaction-eng.com
Business Contact
 Michael Bockelie
Title: Executive Vice President
Phone: (801) 364-6925
Email: bockelie@reaction-eng.com
Research Institution
 NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
 Joseph Bozzelli
 
University Heights
Newark, NJ 07102
United States

 (973) 596-5294
 Nonprofit College or University
Abstract

Scramjet propulsion has the potential to power high Mach number flight without the need to carry its own oxidizer like a rocket, thus significantly reducing vehicle flight weight. Numerical simulations will play an increasingly important role in the development of scramjet engines. Hydrocarbon fuels are advantageous for scramjet propulsion because of their higher energy density and ease of transport. CPU and memory limitations prohibit implementation of full detailed chemistry of hydrocarbon fuels into 3-D CFD simulations, even using the latest massively parallel computers. The proposed project will develop a hydrocarbon chemical kinetics modeling capability suitable for scramjet design applications by: (1) Improving existing chemical kinetic mechanisms for ethylene, JP-7 and JP-8 focusing on the low pressures and high temperatures found in a scramjet combustor using density functional and ab initio calculations of thermochemical properties and chemical kinetic rates; (2) Performing counterflow diffusion flames at subatmospheric pressures to fill gaps in existing data; (3) Automatically optimizing reduced mechanisms using a genetic algorithm; and (4) Implementing an advanced chemical source term tabulation technique (ISAT) that works efficiently in a parallel-processing environment. The parallel ISAT and reduced mechanisms based on improved kinetics will be implemented into the VULCAN and CFD++ CFD codes.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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