The Quest for Zip Fuel (boron based fuels)

a reply to: FredT

What an interesting and absolutely cool read, that link!!

I love stuff like that!

I was reading an old Popular Science article where the author went in to great depth discussing the needs of Mach 5 airframe. He was at Edwards, I believe, and was discussing with his host (can't remember who the host was) what kind of fuel source such a bird would require, while touring a hangar housing an SR-71. Was a really great read! The interviewee whose last name was Dupont, if I remember right, was stating that if he was working at Lockheed, he would be interested in using liquid methane. Describes that the liquid methane would act as a great heat sink for such an aircraft.

There other interesting bit was a suggestion of Methylcyclohexane as potential fuel source. The author stated that you would have to find a proper catalyst though, and I remember wondering if TEB would be able to work for such an application.

This was all back in 88' so who knows how applicable any of the ideas brought forth in that thought experiment of an article are today, but once again, it was a great read!!!

November 88 issue of Popular Science.

a reply to: Jacksonsman1

I wonder what could be learned by searching through some of the big fuel companies public material.. They usually leak things right under our noses by just mentioning it for another use or under a company research project. Methane would be interesting because the DoD is definitely pouring money into alternative fuels and methane is a well known biofuel.

a reply to: Caughtlurking

Or just wade through their patent filings

a reply to: FredT

Boron is turning out to be something of a super element.... It's got literally thousands if not hundreds of thousands of uses in current and future technologies running the entire gamut of fields and applications!

That and silanes man... Between the two of them all sorts of neat stuff suddenly doesn't seem nearly as difficult.