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High density carbon dispersion fuels were studied. Promising results were obtained which indicate stable carbon loaded fuels with a minimum of 180,000 Btu per gallon can be made and successfully burned in prototype turbine combustors components. Tests were completed which provide insights to obtaining a better understanding of what types of carbon can be successfully formulated and combusted.
The possible effects of free carbon fibers on aircraft avionic equipment operation, removal costs, and safety were investigated. Possible carbon fiber flow paths, flow rates, and transfer functions into the Boeing 707, 727, 737, 747 aircraft and potentially vulnerable equipment were identified. Probabilities of equipment removal and probabilities of aircraft exposure to carbon fiber were derived.
Carbon or graphite fibers are manufactured by heating polyacrylonitrile fiber materials in various solutions and gases. They are characterized in that the materials are heated to temperatures from 150 to 300 C in a solution containing one or more acids from the group of carbonic acids, sulfonic acids, and/or phenols. The original molecular orientation of the fibers is preserved by the cyclization that occurs before interlacing, which gives very strong and stiff carbon or graphite fibers without additional high temperature stretching treatments.
The state of the art of PAN based carbon fiber manufacture and the science of fiber behavior is surveyed. A review is given of the stabilization by oxidation and the subsequent carbonization of fibers, of the apparent structure of fibers deduced from scanning electron microscopy, from X-ray scattering, and from similarities with soft carbons, and of the known relations between fiber properties and heat treatment temperature. A simplified model is invoked to explain the electrical properties of fibers and recent quantum chemical calculations on atomic clusters are used to elucidate some aspects of fiber conductivity. Some effects of intercalation and oxidative modification of finished fibers are summarized.
A mathematical model is developed to predict carboxyhemoglobin concentrations in regions of the body for short exposures to carbon monoxide levels expected during escape from aircraft fires. The model includes the respiratory and circulatory dynamics of absorption and distribution of carbon monoxide and carboxyhemoglobin. Predictions of carboxyhemoglobin concentrations are compared to experimental values obtained for human exposures to constant high carbon monoxide levels. Predictions are within 20% of experimental values. For short exposure times, transient concentration effects are predicted. The effect of stress is studied and found to increase carboxyhemoglobin levels substantially compared to a rest state.
Complete 0.75-13 micron spectrometry of a carbon-rich, Mira-class variable star is presented for the first time. It is noted that although the near-infrared is dominated by photospheric absorption bands of the CN red system, the infrared becomes progressively dominated by the bands of the polyatomic molecules HCN and C2H2. Since the band at 3.1 microns is known to be due to HCN and C2H2, it is possible to associate bands at 1.04, 1.53, 1.85, 2.5, 2.7, 3.56, 3.85, 4.8, and 7.1 microns with HCN and C2H2. The spectrum suggests that radiative transfer in the carbon Mira class cannot be discussed quantitatively without the inclusion of HCN and C2H2 opacity. On the basis of the carbon star models of Querci and Querci (1974), it is deduced that the abundance ratio of HCN to C2H2 can be used to indicate whether 3-alpha-processed or CNO-processed material is in the outer atmosphere. An 11.3 micron SiC dust-emission feature is present, although it differs significantly from the 11.7 micron SiC feature in Y CVn. A featureless emission is present from 4 to 13 microns and can be ascribed to optically thin graphite grains having a temperature of 450 K.
It is pointed out that the details of the synthesis of the elements just beyond iron are unclear. Thus, a reexamination of the role played by neutron-capture reactions during explosive carbon burning is indicated. A description is given of calculations of explosive carbon-burning nucleosynthesis using a complete neutron capture (n-process) computer code with a network extending from Cr through Zr and including not only (n,gamma), (gamma,n) reactions and beta-decay but also (p,n), (n,p), (p,gamma), and (p,alpha) reactions. Initial conditions indicative of the composition of a massive star following core helium burning were selected, and a comparison is made with conditions similar to those used by Howard et al. (1972). It is found that neutron reactions during explosive carbon burning are an important source for the elements just beyond iron.
A logarithmic carbon abundance of 8.61 + or - 0.3 is derived for the planetary nebula Hu 2-1 using data taken with the International Ultraviolet Explorer satellite. This value is close to the logarithmic carbon abundance of 8.67 + or - 0.1, found for the sun by other investigators. The carbon abundance of Hu 2-1 is compared to those of other planetary nebulae and to the predictions of stellar evolution calculations.
Carbon cloth is starting material for promising new catalytic electrodes. Carbon-cloth electrodes are more efficient than sintered-carbon configuration previously used. Are also chemically stable and require less catalyst--an important economic advantage when catalyst is metal such as platinum.
In an attempt to understand the process of electrical conduction in polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based carbon fibers, calculations were carried out on cluster models of the fiber consisting of carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen atoms using the modified intermediate neglect of differential overlap (MINDO) molecular orbital (MO) method. The models were developed based on the assumption that PAN carbon fibers obtained with heat treatment temperatures (HTT) below 1000 C retain nitrogen in a graphite-like lattice. For clusters modeling an edge nitrogen site, analysis of the occupied MO's indicated an electron distribution similar to that of graphite. A similar analysis for the somewhat less stable interior nitrogen site revealed a partially localized II electron distribution around the nitrogen atom. The differences in bonding trends and structural stability between edge and interior nitrogen clusters led to a two-step process proposed for nitrogen evolution with increasing HTT.
A method for inferring carbon monoxide concentrations from gas filter radiometer data is presented. The technique can closely approximate the results of more costly line-by-line radiative transfer calculations over a wide range of altitudes, ground temperatures, and carbon monoxide concentrations. The technique can also be used over a larger range of conditions than those used for the regression analysis. Because the influence of the carbon monoxide mixing ratio requires only addition, multiplication and a minimum of logic, the method can be implemented on very small computers or microprocessors.
A mixture of calcium acetate and lithium acetate applied to the surface of carbon fibers caused the fibers to gasify in a simulated airplane-crash fire. Tests conducted with a JPL-developed electrical detector showed the catalyst-modified composites to release few fibers during burning, while state-of-the-art composites released several hundred. Mechanical property tests demonstrated nearly identical behavior of catalyst-modified and state-of-the-art composites. Aging tests also showed little difference in the composite strength except for a severe reduction when soaked in water. Several promising new concepts resulted from the project, including catalytic elimination of carbon particulates from diesel exhaust, catalytic improvement of coal combustion, and electrical destruction of carbon particulates in combustion systems.
The abundance of interstellar neutral atomic carbon is investigated by means of its ground state fine-structure line emission at 492 GHz using the 91.5 cm telescope of NASAs Kuiper Airborne Observatory. Atomic carbon is found to be very abundant in dense interstellar molecular clouds with column densities of about 10 to the 19th per sq cm. Because the observations have considerably greater column densities than current theories of carbon chemistry, it is suggested that the physical conditions of these clouds are not as simple as assumed in the models. Various situations are discussed which would lead to large C I abundances, including the possibility that the chemical lifetimes of the clouds are relatively short.
The effect of ambient ultraviolet photons on the chemical structure of carbon-rich, circumstellar envelopes is investigated with a simple formulation of the time-dependent, photochemical rate equations valid for optically thick shells. Molecules injected into the shielded inner envelope are broken down when they reach the outer regions where ambient ultraviolet photons can penetrate. A quantitative description of the abundance variations is obtained for the case of uniform expansion by detailed consideration of the shielding of the radiation by the dust and molecules of the envelope. Representative results are presented to illustrate the role of shielding in defining the extent of molecular envelopes, the formation of C I and C II shells by photodestruction of carbon-bearing molecules, and the development of layered chemical structures from the photobreakup of polyatomic molecules. Photochemistry makes the outer parts of thick, carbon-rich envelopes into complex regions containing radicals, ions, and atoms which are of considerable observational and theoretical interest.
Observations are presented of a semiforbidden transition of C II at lambda 2325 toward Delta Scorpii. This line is intrinsically so weak that saturation and blending problems are completely absent, allowing the C II column density to be determined unambiguously. Furthermore, since C II is the dominant ionization state of carbon in H I regions, the total carbon abundance follows directly. While the detection of weak, semiforbidden interstellar lines requires high resolution and high photometric accuracy, observations of these lines promise substantial improvements concerning the knowledge of gas-phase abundances and, consequently, of the composition and structure of grains. The reported results represent the first direct evidence from absorption measurements that carbon is depleted from the interstellar gas by amounts sufficient to provide a substantial fraction of the mass of interstellar grains.
Results are given of observations of the UV spectra of several H II regions in the Magellanic Clouds, with emphasis on obtaining the carbon abundance from the UV lines of C II, C III, and C IV. The observations and results are described, and theoretical model calculations are presented of the H II regions and the relative abundances of H, He, C, N, O, S, Cl, and Ar computed from the UV and visual spectra. In addition, the abundance results for the Magellanic Clouds are compared with the sun, the Orion Nebula, and galactic planetary nebulae. In comparison with solar abundances, carbon is found to be depleted relative to hydrogen in the Magellanic Clouds by an amount larger than that of nitrogen and oxygen in the SMC and by an amount between that of nitrogen and oxygen in the LMC. It is noted that the results are consistent with a scenario that nitrogen and oxygen have greater primary yields in massive stars than carbon, which may be produced predominantly in less massive stars (such that C/N and C/O in galaxies are initially very low and subsequently increase with evolution). Subsequently, the C/N ratio may decrease as secondary production of nitrogen in less massive stars becomes significant.
Strong neutral carbon emission at 610 microns (492 GHz) has been detected from a bright-rimmed cloud abutting the H II region NGC 1977. The similarity of velocity and width between (C-13)O and C I lines suggests that both lines originate in the same region. A model for the density and temperature structure of the cloud, based on (C-13)O and (C-12)O observations, has been used to estimate the carbon abundance. The abundances of both C I and (C-13)O increase with depth into the cloud away from the rim. The carbon abundance reaches its peak value nearer the rim than does the (C-13)O abundance. This variation in the relative abundance distributions of CO and C I confirms the importance of photodissociation in the chemistry of molecular clouds, and of the C I line to studies of the interaction of hot stars with clouds.
An experimental program to investigate hardware configurations which attempt to minimize carbon formation and soot production without sacrificing performance in small gas turbine combustors has been conducted at the United Technologies Research Center. Four fuel injectors, embodying either airblast atomization, pressure atomization, or fuel vaporization techniques, were combined with nozzle air swirlers and injector sheaths, and evaluated at test conditions which included and extended beyond standard small gas turbine combustor operation. Extensive testing was accomplished with configurations embodying either a spill return or a T-vaporizer injector. Minimal carbon deposits were observed on the spill return nozzle for tests using either Jet A or ERBS test fuel. A more extensive film of soft carbon was observed on the vaporizer after operation at standard engine conditions, with large carbonaceous growths forming on the device during off-design operation at low combustor inlet temperature. Test results indicated that smoke emission levels depended on the combustor fluid mechanics (especially the mixing rates near the injector), the atomization quality of the injector and the fuel hydrogen content.