2020 Virtual AIChE Annual Meeting
(443d) Prediction of Physical Properties and Phase Behavior for Future Jet Fuel Selection Via Monte Carlo Simulations
Authors
Liquid fuels used in internal combustion and jet engines contain hundreds of species, and therefore computational modeling efforts of combustion dynamics have focused on fuel “surrogates†that mimic the physical and combustion properties of the fuel of interest. These surrogates are composed primarily of linear and branched alkanes containing 8 to 17 carbon atoms, as well as cyclic molecules, such as toluene and decalin.
This work validates the use of the current molecular models (force fields), such as the Transferable Potentials for Phase Equilibria (TraPPE) for reproducing physical properties (liquid density, surface tension, and heat of vaporization), and vapor-liquid phase diagrams of typical jet fuel surrogates (e.g., JP-8, Jet-A). Properties are predicted from Monte Carlo simulations using the GOMC1 simulation package, with workflows created using the Molecular Simulation Design Framework (MoSDeF)2-5, which automatically generates this output with minimal command input. The combination of accurate molecular models, high-performance simulation engines, and automated workflows are expected to enable the use of Monte Carlo simulations for testing future jet fuel combinations while minimizing the overall cost of research by narrowing down the required experimental testing to a few candidates.
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