Autothermal non-catalytic reformation of jet fuel in a supercritical water medium

The non-catalytic reformation of jet fuel using supercritical water was studied in a specially designed 0.4-L Haynes Alloy 230 tubular reactor. Experiments were performed at a constant pressure of 24.1 MPa, a temperature of 770°C, and at a constant water-to fuel ratio of fifteen-to-one by mass with various space times and oxygen flow rates. The experiments were conducted with and without air flow so as to examine the effects of the concurrent partial oxidation on the overall reformation process. The reactor effluent gas consisted of hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane and ethane. Increasing space time increases the extent of the carbon gasification reaction and the resultant hydrogen and carbon dioxide gaseous concentrations; however the carbon gasification percentage reaches a limit of about 70% after a space time of 75 seconds when no oxygen was present. It was also established that the addition of substoichiometric amounts of air, as an oxygen source, does not adversely affect the production of hydrogen gas under certain conditions while increasing carbon conversion and in-situ heat generation through partial oxidation. Carbon conversions of 86% to 94%, depending on the space time, were achieved with oxygen-to-carbon ratios of 0.4. In this thesis, the effects of space time and oxygen addition on the reformation of jet fuel are elucidated based on the experimental data --Abstract, page iii