Concordia University researchers developed a kerosene-based gel that addresses a longstanding challenge in space propulsion: keeping fuel stable in storage and letting it flow into engines.

A kerosene-based gel developed by Concordia researchers could make rocket and satellite fuels easier to store and control.

The new material combines kerosene, lecithin, and calcium chloride to produce a gel that behaves more like a soft solid at rest but flows when subjected to force or heat, according to a study.

Liquid fuels can slosh around tanks, complicating spacecraft control. A press release by Concordia continues that conventional gel fuels, however, can be difficult to work with. The new gel is designed to solve this problem.

The research, conducted by Pranay Mudaliar and Jerin John, an associate professor of mechanical, industrial and aerospace engineering at Concordia University, examines how the gel responds to shear, temperature, and the addition of ethanol.

Their findings, published in Langmuir, could help address the challenges the industry faces with conventional liquid and gel propellants, including fuel movement inside tanks and pumping fuel into engines.

Its transparent appearance could also help researchers observe how fuel moves and burns.

Liquid propellants, because of their material, can become unstable. But fuel gels present other challenges, as they are difficult to pump and spray. So Concordia researchers developed this novel material that can act as both.

When at rest, it remains solid, but when exposed to force or heat, it flows.

The study explains that calcium chloride turns lecithin into long, worm-like structures called micelles.

Source link