Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
3 Fuels
Conventional fossil fuels are getting depleted rapidly due to the ever increasing
demand. Political and economic instability causes dif
culty not only in the pro-
duction and acquisition of fuels, but also in transporting from place of origin to the
demand sites. Nuclear energy is still controversial, and wind, geothermal, and other
energy solutions are not going to be a full substitute. Under the circumstances, either
new and more energetic hydrocarbon fuels or alternate fuels (such as biofuels)
need to be developed. While the former provides an alternative to develop smaller
engines with smaller fuel tanks to provide the same range as with a larger ones
(for military applications), the latter provides a sustainable alternative for civilian
and commercial applications.
3.1 High-Energy-Density (HED) Fuels
HED fuels are formed by manipulating the long-chain hydrocarbon molecules to
form triangles, squares, and polygons and then further into tetrahedrons and cubes,
etc. (Fig. 2 ). Fuels, such as, benzvalene, cubane, dihydrobenzvalene, and dimethyl
cubane fall in this category.
Here, the increased density due to compacting the molecule, the strain energy
added during the synthesis, and the higher carbon-to-hydrogen ratios account for
the increased volumetric energy release rates.
These fuels will be of particular interest to military applications as these can
increase the range and speed of a given system or provide the same speed and range
Fig. 2 High-energy-density (HED) fuels
Search WWH ::




Custom Search