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The goal of creating a cleaner fuel for aircraft engines is sparking at UBC Okanagan
.

A team of researchers studying the rate at which nanomaterials burn in liquid fuels believes they have created a recipe for a clean-burning, power-enhancing jet fuel
.
The project is a collaboration between the College of Engineering's Combustion Propulsion and Power Laboratory (CPPL) and its Nanomaterials and Polymer Nanocomposites Laboratory
.

Inside the CPPL, the researchers watched the bright and consistent flame as it darted across the wires of the nanomaterial-rich liquid fuel
.
The team is studying the combustion properties of microscale graphene oxide within the fuel
.

Their experiments measured ignition delay, burn rate, and the speed at which graphene particles and fuel separate into smaller particles
.

"In collaboration with our industry partner ZEN Graphene Solutions, we are evaluating how the burning rate of this mixture can potentially improve its combustion characteristics
," explained the researchers
.

Researchers develop technologies, tools and knowledge for next-generation energy and aerospace-related applications
.
In this case, they hope their results will lead to cleaner and more powerful aircraft in the future
.

When it comes to fuel, we are always looking for the consistent response of the fuel within key parameters as they relate to how it ignites, burns and maintains strength, most people have a general understanding of the composition of gasoline and jet fuel, know It is a mixture of many hydrocarbons
.
But they might not have imagined that combining these things with nanomaterials and burning them could make engines much more powerful and cleaner
.

Using ultra-fast and intensified cameras and microscope analysis, the researchers were able to study the burning rate of the doped fuel
.
They found that adding graphene oxide nanomaterials to ethanol increased the rate of combustion by about 8 percent
.
This improvement in combustion could help reduce the aircraft's carbon footprint, the researchers explained
.
At the same time, it makes the aircraft more powerful
.

The recipe for cooking nanomaterials was developed by the study's co-authors
.
The research team has published results for doping with ethanol, and experiments show good results for other liquid fuels such as jet A and diesel
.

The addition of nanomaterials to liquid fuels alters heat transfer and fuel evaporation rates, affecting the overall combustion rate
.
But getting the right mixture of nanomaterials and liquid fuels is key to improving combustion, especially in aircraft engines
.