Combustion Enhancement Research Articles

Interplay of self-throttling and air throttling on combustion enhancement of the scramjet combustor

The present work discusses the effects of self-throttling in conjunction with air throttling on the scramjet combustor performance. Ethylene fueled cavity-strut based combustor is considered and LES simulations are performed to gain insight on influence of Mach number, inlet temperature, self-throttling and air throttling on combustion performance. Our study shows substantial improvement both in mixing and combustion efficiency of the combustor. This is evident from the flow characteristics like shock, vortices, recirculation zones, mixing length and penetration depth. It is found that pressure profile is distributed more uniformly across the combustor with minimum pressure losses. Complete mixing is attained relatively earlier as a result of intense shock-shear interactions. Furthermore, the enhancement in the combustion performance is greater at higher Mach number. The increase in static pressure is found to be a strong function of the inlet Mach number and temperature also. The separate study on effect of initial temperature indicates the mixing length is the shortest with the maximum fuel penetration at inlet temperature of 700 K beyond which the performance deteriorates. It is seen that air throttling is found to be more effective when self-throttling works in tandem alongside having a direct bearing on the combustor performance.

Combustion characteristics of a confined turbulent jet flame

This work studied the combustion characteristics of a highly-turbulent premixed jet flame influenced by a confined space. A piloted premixed jet burner is used to generate a supersonic methane-air fuel-rich flow and a heat-resisting quartz tube is located coaxially above the jet flame which acts as the confined space. Flame luminosity, OH* and CH* chemiluminescence were captured at different distances between the tube and the burner (H). Jet flame characteristics have been comprehensively investigated from flame extinction to combustion enhancement with the increasing of H. A critical value of H has been identified, below which the flames will be extinguished by the ejection effect of the confined space and the central jet. For the self-sustained confined jet flames, it can be concluded that there are three representative flame structures with the increasing of H, namely the V-shaped flame, converging flame and fully developed flame. The ignition failure of the central region in the fuel jet is found to be the immediate cause for the presence of the V-shaped flame. In the converging flame, a region where strong combustion occurs (the first intense combustion region, FICR) can be observed around the entrance of the confined space, which is mainly formed by the chemical reactions of CH* and OH*. For the fully developed flame, besides FICR, a second intense combustion region (SICR) that mainly related to OH* reaction pathways will emerge in the confined space.

Effect of the Air Flow on the Combustion Process and Preheating Effect of the Intake Manifold Burner

Diesel engines show poor performance and high emissions under cold-start conditions. The intake manifold burner is an effective method to increase the intake air temperature and improve engine performance. In this paper, a visualization system was employed to investigate the combustion process of the intake manifold burner. The effects of diesel flow rate and airflow velocity on combustion performance were investigated. The combustion process of the intake manifold burner showed four stages: preparing stage A, rapid development stage B, steady-development stage C, and stable stage D. Flame stripping was found in stages C and D, presenting the instability of the combustion process. With the increase in air flow velocity from 1.4 m/s to 3.0 m/s, the flame stripping was enhanced, leading to the increasing combustion instability and regular flame penetration fluctuations. The average temperature rise and combustion efficiency increased with the increasing diesel flow rate, indicating the combustion enhancement. Comparison of temperature rise and combustion efficiency under 2.0 m/s and 10.0 m/s showed that stronger cross wind enhances the heat convection, improving the temperature uniformity and combustion efficiency.

Experimental investigation on methane inert gas dilution effect on marine gas diesel engine performance and emissions

ABSTRACT The behavior of a dual-fuel compression engine on a marine scale was investigated using a Rapid Expansion-Compression Machine (RCEM) fueled by gas oil emulsion and methane-inert gases dilution. The methane-inert gas blend was utilized as the primary injected fuel, with a pilot dose of diesel fuel acting as an ignitor. The findings demonstrate enhancements in the case of gas dilution besides the gas oil emulsion. Integrating inert gases with methane fuel improves flame penetration and increases the combustion duration. Blending inert gases with methane boosts the heat release rate of the combustion, leading to an increase in in-cylinder pressure peak by 3% for all tested fuels. In the case of gas oil (GO) emulsion, 95% reduction in NOx emissions compared to GO was reached. Using a methane-nitrogen mixture with 17.5% nitrogen gas reduces NOx emissions to 62% of the gas oil fuel emissions. Generally, diluting the methane with inert gas has the same effect as water-Gas Oil emulsion on combustion enhancement and emission reduction. This experimental study suggests using the Methane–Nitrogen combination as a direct-injected fuel with 17.5 percentage nitrogen gas.

Combustion enhancement via tandem cavities within a Mach 8 scramjet combustor

This paper presents a fundamental numerical investigation of an ethylene fuelled axisymmetric scramjet using single and tandem cavity flameholders. A scramjet profile was designed comprising a truncated Busemann diffuser, isolator, and a constant-to-divergent area combustor. Flight equivalent, Mach 8 flow was delivered to four combustor variants equipped with a single or one of three tandem cavities. Two tandem cavity pairs were positioned within the constant-area combustor, and the remaining was located at the combustor's diverging portion. Fuelling rates of 25%, 50% and 75% of stoichiometric fuel/air ratios were considered. Combustor performance was assessed on mixing and combustion efficiencies, heat release, and total drag. Tandem cavity pairs residing within the combustor's constant area region exhibited a 16% improvement to combustion and a 10% increase in heat release compared to the equivalently fuelled single cavity. There was minimal difference in drag for these configurations at high fuelling. Negligible benefits emerged from any tandem configuration at moderate fuelling rates, and positioning a tandem cavity at the diverging portion universally provided no benefit.

Review on Research Progress of C6F12O as a Fire Extinguishing Agent

Clean gas fire suppressants with high efficiency are widely applied. This paper provides a systematic review of the research advances in the novel environmentally friendly suppressant, C6F12O. Considering the principle of screening fire suppressants, the physical and chemical properties of C6F12O are presented first. Specifically, research on the measurement of the thermodynamic parameters, toxicity, corrosion, environmental compatibility and dispersion characteristics are summarized, revealing that the poor dispersibility, corrosion of the hydrolysates (perfluoropropionic acid), corrosion and toxicity of thermal breakdown products such as HF and COF2 and environmentally unfriendly products such as perfluorocarbons should be paid more attention. Three main synthesis routes of C6F12O are also introduced in view of its promising prospects for application. Furthermore, the fire extinguishing efficiency of C6F12O has been fully investigated in both a laboratory burner scale and full-scale fire extinguishing experiment, the results of which show that the minimum extinguishing volume concentration of C6F12O is lower than HFCs, but the mass concentration is much higher. Although C6F12O has shown satisfactory fire extinguishing performance in various fire protection scenarios, fire enhancement phenomenon and the large production of HF have been observed during fire extinguishment. Finally, the fire extinguishing mechanism of C6F12O has been discussed. The flame suppression effect of C6F12O, combustion enhancement phenomenon and the influence of water in the reaction zone have been revealed. This review fully evaluates C6F12O, in hope that it will provide a reference for follow-up research and the development of a halon replacement.

Enhancement of Methane-Air Combustion with Increasing Oxygen Ratio

Increasing combustion efficiency and minimal emissions of pollutants are among the fundamental issues in combustion research. In this regard, the phenomenon of combustion and its influencing factors, such as the fuel / air ratio as one of the most important factors in flame formation, have attracted the attention of many researchers. In this study, the effect of increasing the oxygen ratio over its proportion in the stoichiometric reaction for methane – air combustion was studied. The equations for the conservation of mass, momentum, and energy for a methane-air mixture have been solved by using CFD. A FORTRAN-90 program based on GENMIX will be developed. In order to verify the validity of the present program, the present numerical results were compared with the previous experimental results, and the comparison showed a good agreement. From the results, it was found that increasing the proportion of oxygen leads to an improvement in the temperature distribution inside the combustion cylinder, and there is no effect was observed on the nature of the velocity profiles inside the combustion space. As for the combustion of fuel, there was an improvement in the fuel combustion rate with the increasing in oxygen ratio.

Enhancement of biogas combustion by co-firing dimethyl ether in a gas turbine model combustor

To improve the combustion intensity of biogas which is a renewable gas turbine fuel with methane (CH4) and CO2 as major components, dimethyl ether (DME, CH3OCH3) was used to co-fire with biogas in a gas turbine model combustor in this work. Swirl combustion characteristics of biogas/DME mixtures under different DME contents in fuel mixtures (α) and CO2 contents in biogas mixtures (β) were measured. Numerical simulation and kinetic analysis were performed to provide insights into the effects of DME co-firing and CO2 content on combustion characteristics. It was observed that flame shape and flame size remain almost unchanged with varying DME content and CO2 content at the fixed air flow rate, which are associated with the nearly unchanged flow field. The flame displays a purple color with DME co-firing due to the enhanced formaldehyde (CH2O) chemiluminescence. DME co-firing can effectively improve the flame stability and lower the lean blowout limit (LBO). The decreased LBO is associated with the enhanced fuel reactivity, which results in the reduced ignition delay time and the increased laminar flame speed, OH peak value and high-level OH area. However, increasing CO2 content raises LBO, which is associated with the decreased laminar flame speed, OH peak value and high-level OH area. The ignition delay time can hardly follow the LBO trend with varying CO2 content as it cannot account for the thermal effect caused by CO2 addition. Furthermore, the NO emissions increase with DME co-firing and exceed 20 ppm in pure DME combustion due to the increased temperature level and high-T area, while the amplitude of combustion acoustics is elevated by ∼30–70% with increasing DME content. In contrast, both the NO emissions and amplitude of combustion acoustics attenuate with increasing CO2 content.

Numerical simulation of the interaction between shock train and combustion in three-dimensional M12-02 scramjet model

The characteristics of combustion flow fields and performance for hypersonic M12-02 scramjet were numerically simulated and analyzed. The compressible two-equation k-w SST turbulence model was employed for the turbulence model and the 9-species, 27-reaction-step hydrogen-air reaction mechanism was used as the reaction kinetics model. The numerical method was verified and a good agreement was obtained between the results of the numerical simulations and the experimental data. The results showed that shock waves from the upper and lower walls respectively crossed with each other near the central axis, forming a ‘diamond’ shape in the high-temperature combustion region. Compared to the conventional scramjet engine, most of the fuel reaction was in pure supersonic combustion mode for this hypersonic scramjet engine. Changes in the distribution of fuel on the upper and lower walls could have an appreciable impact on the combustion flow field. Average fuel distribution between upper and lower walls is benefit for combustion enhancement while the heat transfer in the corner of the side wall is severe and should be avoided during operation. The flame investigation showed that it cannot automatically predict the flame surface temperature in advance only based on the equivalence ratio Φ according to diffusion combustion theory. Compared to Φ = 1.0 condition, the flame surface temperature for Φ = 0.8 condition is higher as the complicated interaction between shock waves and combustion, which makes the local air temperature and mixing extent in flame surface is more appropriate. However, in terms of the overall engine performance, the Φ = 1.0 condition has the better combustion efficiency along the whole flow path.

SHOCK-TUNNEL EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF COMBUSTION ENHANCEMENT METHODS FOR A HIGH-MACH-NUMBER SCRAMJET

Based on the JF-24 high-enthalpy shock tunnel in Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the current paper performed direct-connect combustion tests of a high-Mach-number scramjet engine to study high-Mach-number combustion enhancement methods and fuel types’ effects. The test-section was a circular cross-section scramjet combustor with cavity structures, and fuel injectors were arranged in the isolator. Hydrogen and ethylene fuels were severally used in current tests at the same equivalence ratio of 0.7. Fuel injection utilized two different test-section configurations without and with small struts, respectively. Some injection holes of the latter configuration were located on the strut tops. For each configuration, two adjacent rings of injecting holes were arranged for single-ring and dual-rings injections, respectively. Test results demonstrated that stabilized combustion performances of hydrogen and ethylene fuels in hypersonic flows under a Mach number \begin{document}$ M{a_{\text{f}}}{\text{ = }}10 $\end{document} flight condition. Meanwhile, compared to the single-ring fuel injection method, dual-rings fuel injections and adding injections on small-strut tops were beneficial for combustion enhancements. The reason was speculated that interactions of adjacent fuel jets and shock/separation structures probably could improve fuel-air mixing, and additional fuel injection on small-strut tops meant more available air for mixing. Under the same combustion enhancement methods of dual-ring injections and additional small-strut top injections, hydrogen fuel generated better thrust performance than ethylene fuel, while their combustion efficiencies were similar. This was possibly because that the hydrogen fuel had a higher caloricity, and thus it could generate more heat release. Besides, test also verified that under the current high-enthalpy high-speed inflow condition, combustion heat release was controlled by fuel-air mixing processes, and meanwhile the upper limits of heat release was limited by high-temperature dissociation effects. This was because that heat release led to decreases of local flow speeds and increase flow temperatures. Consequently, high-temperature dissociation endothermic reactions would be more remarkable, resulting in decrease of heat release.

Ignition and combustion enhancement of composite fuel in conditions of droplets dispersion during conductive heating on steel surfaces with different roughness parameters

The ignition and combustion of single organic coal-water fuel (OCWF) droplets made of coal (30%), waste engine oil (35%), and water (35%) during conductive heating on the surfaces of the machine steel modified with abrasive materials and laser radiation were studied experimentally. The experimental conditions (material and temperature of the heating surfaces) corresponded to the operating conditions of modern furnace chambers of boilers at thermal power plants. It is found that the ignition delay and burnout times during conductive heating of OCWF droplets on steel surfaces can be controlled by changing the surface roughness parameters. On the example of 7-mg OCWF droplets with a radius of about 1.2 mm, it is shown that for processing of heating surfaces, it is necessary to use the abrasive materials with an average grit size of 100 μm to decrease the ignition and burnout times. The abrasive materials with an average grit size of more than 100 μm have an insignificant effect on the ignition delay and burnout times of OCWF droplets. However, such processing significantly increases the deposition of solid combustion products (ash deposits) with an increase in the surface roughness. Laser processing of steel surfaces is of particular interest in the implementation of passive ways of controlling the ignition and combustion characteristics of OCWF droplets. This way of changing the surface texture allows controlling the ignition delay and burnout times in a wide range of the heating source temperatures, as well as reducing the intensity of the solid product deposition on the heating surface during the OCWF combustion. The positive effect from laser processing of heating surfaces to intensify the fuel droplet combustion consists in increasing the velocity of vapor flows from combustible fuel components due to the droplet dispersion. This, in turn, intensifies the formation of a combustible vapour-gas mixture and increases the velocities of flame propagation together with the dispersion products of fuel droplets along the textured surface.

Numerical investigation of the scale effects of the flame flashback phenomenon in scramjet combustors

The scale effect of flame flashbacks inside an ethylene-fueled scramjet combustor was investigated through an approach that combines numerical, experimental, and theoretical analyses. In the current study, a hybrid large eddy simulation (LES)/flamelet-progress variable (FPV) combustion model was compared with experimental observations and measurements, and a good level of agreement was shown. As the scale changed, the boundary-layer profiles showed differences to some extent. A larger-scale engine could obtain higher fuel mixing efficiency and thus had the potential to yield intense combustion, enhancing the downstream backpressure and boundary-layer separation. The gradually separated boundary layer formed a quick thermally choked flow, prompting the flame front to accelerate forward until it was transmitted back to the fuel injection position. The low-speed zone in the interior of the boundary layer was more conducive to combustion enhancement and the formation of positive feedback. In addition, the simplified flame flashback model combined with the flame stabilization model was used to illuminate the scale effects of flame flashback.

Effects analysis on the catalytic combustion and heat transfer performance enhancement of a non-premixed hydrogen/air micro combustor

In this work, a type of non-premixed hydrogen/air micro combustor is designed for the application of micro-thermophotovoltaic (MTPV) systems. The micro combustor is presented with a backward-facing step and unique inlet shape to enhance the mixing performance and flame stabilization. The combustion, flow, and heat transfer characteristics of non-premixed hydrogen/air combustion in micro combustors with/without catalyst segment are numerically investigated. The results indicate that the homogeneous reaction is obviously weakened in the catalytic combustor, but a higher and more uniform outer wall temperature is obtained, and the outer wall temperature difference can be decreased by up to 28%. The flow characteristics of gaseous mixture in the catalytic combustor are better than those in the non-catalytic combustor. When the inlet velocity is 10 m/s, the average flow velocity and pressure loss of the catalytic combustor are decreased by up to 5.6% and 250 Pa, respectively. Furthermore, the heat of reaction and total heat flux at the gas–solid interface of the catalytic combustor are obviously higher and lower than those of the non-catalytic combustor, and the outer wall heat loss ratio is increased by up to 0.59% when the inlet velocity is 10 m/s. All in all, it can be concluded that adopting catalytic combustion to the micro combustor is extremely suitable for the application of MTPV systems.

Enhancement of catalytic combustion of toluene over CuMnOx hollow spheres prepared by oxidation method

Catalytic oxidation is considered as one of the most potential technologies for complete removal of VOCs. It is generally accepted that the development of catalyst with high and stable activity at low temperature is the key for such a catalytic strategy. The CuMnO x catalyst with a hollow spherical structure (CuMnO x -HS) was successfully prepared by an oxidation strategy and applied to toluene removal. Combined with the results of XRD, SEM, TEM, HRTEM, BET, H 2 -TPR, XPS and O 2 -TPD, the enhanced synergistic effect between Mn and Cu originating from the special oxidation method resulted in the large specific surface area, enhanced reducibility, and oxygen mobility as well as abundant adsorbed oxygen species of CuMnO x -HS, which was responsible for its superior catalytic performance. CuMnO x -HS could achieve a toluene conversion of 90% at 212 °C. Furthermore, CuMnO x -HS showed a stable removal efficiency and excellent water resistance, suggesting a great potential in practical application for the complete removal of toluene. CuMnO x catalyst with a hollow spherical morphology (CuMnO x -HS) was successively synthesized by in-situ oxidation of Cu 2 O nanospheres. The CuMnOx-HS catalyst achieves a toluene conversion of 100% at 220 °C, and shows super-stable removal efficiency and water resistance, indicating a great potential in practical application for the total oxidation of toluene. • CuMnO x hollow spheres (CuMnO x -HS) were prepared by in-situ oxidation of Cu 2 O. • The stepwise oxidation of Cu 2 O spheres facilitated the Cu 2+ -O 2− -Mn 4+ entities. • CuMnO x -HS showed a super-stable removal efficiency and good resistance to water. • The enhanced reducibility and oxygen mobility were responsible for the superior activity of CuMnO x -HS.

Numerical study on premixed hydrogen/air combustion characteristics and heat transfer enhancement of micro-combustor embedded with pin fins

Aimed at improving the energy output performance of the Microthermal Photovoltaic (MTPV) system, it is necessary to optimize the structure of the micro combustor. In this paper, micro combustor with in-line pin fins arrays (MCIPF) and micro combustor with both end-line pin fins arrays (MCEPF) were presented to realize the efficient combustion and heat transfer enhancement, and the influence of inlet velocity, equivalent ratio, and materials on thermal performance was investigated. The results showed that pin fins embedding is beneficial to improving combustion, and the combustion efficiency of MCIPF and MCEPF reaches 98.5% and 98.7%, which is significantly higher than that of the conventional cylindrical combustor (MCC). However, with the increase of inlet velocity from 8 m/s to 14 m/s, MCIPF exhibits the highest external wall temperature with a range of (1302–1386 K), while MCEPF maintains the best temperature uniformity. As the inlet velocity increases to 10 m/s, the external wall temperature and temperature uniformity reach the optimum. Besides, under the conditions of different equivalence ratios, both external wall temperature and heat flux increases first and then decreases, meanwhile the temperature uniformity of MCEPF is significantly improved compared with that of MCIPF, they all exhibit the highest external wall temperature with an equivalence ratio of 1.1, and the thermal performance is greatly enhanced. By comparing the heat transfer performance of combustors with different materials based on MCEPF, it is interesting to find that the application of high thermal conductivity materials can not only increase the external wall temperature, but also improve the temperature uniformity. Therefore, materials with high thermal conductivity such as Aluminum, Red Copper and Silicon Carbide should be selected for application in micro combustors and their components. The current work provides a new design method for the enhanced heat transfer of the micro combustor.

Effect and mechanism of combustion enhancement and emission reduction for non-premixed pure ammonia combustion based on fuel preheating

Ammonia (NH3) is a hydrogen-rich carrier with high energy density and is a carbon-free energy source. NH3 is a new carbon-free alternative fuel with great attraction and prospect. NH3 is restricted to large-scale industrial application because of its low reactivity and high nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions in combustion. This research evaluated non-premixed pure NH3 combustion enhancement method and emission law based on fuel preheating. An NH3 preheating device, non-premixed burner, flue gas analysis, and temperature measurement system were designed and constructed. Combustion characteristics of NH3 preheating were investigated under different preheating temperatures and NH3 flow rates. NH3 flame images were captured by a CCD camera. The temperature distributions of the NH3 flames were reconstructed by deflection tomography technology. In addition, the composition concentrations of flue gas were obtained by a multi-component gas analyzer. The influence of preheating temperature on flame characteristics, combustion temperature field, and pollutant emission were analyzed. A numerical simulation was performed under the same experimental conditions. The effects of NH3 preheating on flame and emission characteristics were analyzed by sensitivity analysis and reaction path analysis. The mechanisms of the combustion enhancement and emission reduction for preheating NH3 non-premixed combustion were explained. Results showed that stable non-premixed pure NH3 flame was generated at different experimental flow rates when the NH3 preheating temperature was higher than 593 K. The brightness, color, and structure of the flame varied significantly with increasing preheating temperature. Furthermore, the concentration of NOx decreased obviously, and the concentration of unburned NH3 was extremely low. The chemical reaction rate was tremendously promoted with increasing preheating temperature, and the reaction pathway of N radical was extremely related to nitric oxide (NO) production and consumption.

Enhancement of combustion and radiation performances in a counterflow double‐channel combustor with pin fins for micro‐thermophotovoltaic system

Enhancement of combustion and radiation performances in a counterflow double‐channel combustor with pin fins for micro‐thermophotovoltaic system

Combustion enhancement in rearward step based scramjet combustor by air injection at step base

Numerical simulations were performed to model the non-reacting and reacting flow behind a rearward step flameholder in Mach 1.6 supersonic flow with fuel injection at the step base. The combustor geometry was based on the University of Florida scramjet experimental facility. Turbulence was modeled using k-ω shear stress transport (SST), laminar flamelet was used for combustion modeling. Wall static pressure showed good agreement with experimental data for non-reacting and reacting flow. For non-reacting flow, dummy fuel helium mole fraction distribution in the recirculation region behind the step was validated with planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) images in experiments. To improve the combustion characteristics, air was injected in tandem with hydrogen at step base using various configurations. With all fuel injection as baseline, the case with 2 air jets around each fuel jet and air injected at 2 times the stagnation pressure of fuel showed the most improvement compared to other cases. It was most effective in reducing the local fuel richness, shortening the flame length and increasing combustion efficiency.

Effect of DC Electric Field on Turbulent Flame Structure and Turbulent Burning Velocity

ABSTRACT Effect of electric field on turbulent premixed flame structure and turbulent burning velocity is investigated through OH-PLIF technique. The ring-plate electrode configuration is used, which the ring electrode is high potential. Flame front structure and turbulent burning velocity are derived to estimate the effect of electric field on turbulent flame. Results show that electric field has similar effects compared with turbulence to some extent in this experiment, which could increase flame volume, turbulent burning velocity and decrease the flame surface density. But there are still substantial distinctions in detail. The perturbation induced by turbulence is the vortex, while that induced by electric field is the directional flow, and it can be verified through the PDF distribution of flame curvature with/without electric field. Effect of electric field is a local effect because it is dependent on the distribution of charged species. The research indicates electric field-assisted combustion is mitigated by the turbulence to some extent, and it may hinder the utilization of electric field at practical application for combustion enhancement, but other aspects need further researches. Two reasons are proposed to explain the mitigation of turbulence. Firstly, the response of turbulent burning velocity to the same perturbation decreases with turbulence intensity. Secondly, the wrinkled structure of turbulent flame mitigates the effect of electric field.

Catalyzed combustion of a nanofluid fuel droplet containing polydopamine-coated metastable intermixed composite n-Al/CuO

The ignition and combustion characteristics of kerosene fuels containing polydopamine (PDA)-coated metastable intermixed composite (MIC) nano-aluminum (n-Al)/nano-copper oxide (CuO) are experimentally investigated, with a focus on the mass content of CuO in n-Al@PDA@CuO MICs. The total heat release of n-Al@PDA@CuO (2%) is found to be higher than that of the other n-Al@PDA@CuO samples. During the combustion of n-Al@PDA@CuO (2% and 5%)/kerosene droplets, a yellow flame appears around the agglomerate, which eventually evolves into a yellow light sphere with a diameter of around 5 mm after the kerosene flame extinguishes. Examination of the normalized droplet diameter curves and the morphology of combustion residues shows that the n-Al@PDA@CuO (2%)/kerosene droplet has the best all-around combustion characteristics. A mechanism is proposed for the enhancement of kerosene combustion by n-Al@PDA@CuO. Supporting data from thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC) measurements are presented. The findings and data in this study are expected to advance the development of new kerosene-based nanofluid fuels that meet the high energy demands of liquid propulsion systems.