SBIR-STTR Award

Proposed here is an approach to modify the fuel supply line to existing commercial appliances to allow them to operate on JP-8 fuel, using a JP-8 blue flame technology, based on a patented fuel conditioner that has been shown to produce a clean, highly efficient combustion process from JP-8. Our approach features a key technology enabling the rapid, efficient production of aerosolized and gaseous JP-8-derived products with little or no loss in fueling value and thus the potential to operate at efficiencies in the 90%+ range. Due to its compact size, this novel technology can be integrated within a commercial appliance designed for propane or natural gas with minimal modifications to the appliance and its operating characteristics.

Here we present a plan to develop and prototype a JP-8 battle-fuel conditioner (BFC) based on the objective of taking advantage of the high performance and low costs of commercial gas appliances in military kitchens and for which a working proof of feasibility was completed in Phase I. As envisioned, the BFC would be installed as an add-on it to existing gas appliances to allow them to operate on JP-8 or DF-2, with appliance operation almost unchanged vs. operation on gaseous fuels.