Emulating the sooting propensity of JP-8 with surrogate fuels from solvent mixtures

Surrogate fuel mixtures were formulated using narrow-cut solvent mixtures to match the sooting propensity of a specific jet fuel sample (JP-8 POSF 5699). To formulate the surrogate mixtures, derived cetane number (DCN), threshold soot index (TSI), hydrogen-to-carbon molar ratio, and average molecular weight were used as the combustion property targets. Soot distributions of JP-8 and its surrogates were compared in a wick-fed diffusion burner and net soot production was compared in a model gas turbine combustor. Line-of-sight and local soot volume fraction measurements were obtained using laser extinction on the wick burner. Line-of-sight soot volume fractions for the fuels were measured at different equivalence ratios in the model gas turbine combustor. The measurements showed that the surrogate fuels had similar, though not identical, sooting characteristics in both the wick burner and the model combustor.