Session: Poster Session

Paper Number: 155103

Species Measurements Inside a Toroidal Jet Stirred Reactor at Aircraft Gas Turbine Operating Conditions 

The need for more sustainable fuel alternatives in the modern aircraft industry is growing. SAF is seen as sustainable but still produces harmful carbon emissions. The ideal alternative to SAF is hydrogen fuel, which produces zero carbon emissions during combustion. However, there are several issues with hydrogen being used as a fuel. Hydrogen exists as a liquid at -253℃. A sophisticated and expensive storage system is required to keep the gas in liquid form. Also, H₂ is highly flammable and tends to leak easily, so transporting hydrogen fuel by pipelines is challenging. 

A solution to the problem of using pure hydrogen as a fuel is decomposing ammonia (NH₃) into its constituents of N₂ and H₂ using a chemical catalyst. H₂/NH₃ mixtures still have the desired characteristic of burning without carbon emissions but are less reactive than pure H₂. Additionally, ammonia is a widely used compound, so infrastructure already exists for production, transportation, and storage. One drawback of burning ammonia-hydrogen fuels is the byproduct created, nitrogen oxide (NOx) and unburned NH₃. These emissions are both poisonous to humans and harmful to the environment. The current work focuses on reducing total emissions from an H₂/NH₃ combustor.

This work presents the combustion of various ammonia-hydrogen mixtures using a toroidal jet-stirred reactor (TJSR) at atmospheric pressure for different ammonia-hydrogen mixtures and fuel-air equivalence ratios. This paper will discuss the design of the laser measurement setup and exhaust system in detail. Species concentrations will be measured for NO, NH₃, and H₂O. The results from the TJSR will enable the design of a specialized combustor that is powered by ammonia and can perform in a capacity equal to or exceeding that of conventional jet engines.

Presenting Author: Marzuqa Ahmed University of Central Florida

Presenting Author Biography: Marzuqa is a PhD candidate at the University of Central Florida, she is conducting research in carbon free fuels for aviation.

Authors:

Marzuqa Ahmed University of Central Florida
Amanda Maia UCF
Oli Marquez Valenzuela UCF
Guillermo Barrios Cadenas UCF
Avril Elmer-Santiago UCF
Ramees K. Rahman UCF
Subith Vasu UCF