Calorific ContentCALORIFIC VALUES OF VARIOUS WASTE TYPES
Material kcal/kg
Rubber 5600
Neoprene 7100
Car tires 8300
Oil sludge 8800
Paraffin 10340
Polyethylene 10990
Polypropylene 11030
What is the caloric content of a litre of rocket fuel?What is the caloric content of a litre of rocket fuel?
It depends on the choice of rocket fuel. The two most common rocket fuels are cryogenic liquid Hydrogen (LH2) and refined kerosene (RP-1). LH2 is what powered the Space Shuttle Main Engines, the cluster of three engines on the orbiter itself. RP-1 is the fuel that powered the first stage of the Saturn V, the rocket that took people to the Moon, as well as Russia's Soyuz, and SpaceX's Falcon 9. Liquid Hydrogen has 2256.2 Kcals (1 Kcal is a food calorie) per litre and Kerosene has 8938.8 Kcal per litre. Kerosene is used in lower stages of rockets because it is much denser than Hydrogen and provides more thrust, but is much less efficient because of the high molecular weight of the exhaust. Hydrogen is used in upper stages of rockets where density isn't as much of an issue but efficiency becomes more important. A good guide to understanding it easier is that Hydrogen has more energy per kilo while Kerosene has more energy per litre.
- Code: Select all
Table of calorific value of fuels
Fuel Calorific value
Hydrogen 150 KJ/g
Methane 55 KJ/g
LPG 50 KJ/g
Kerosene oil 48 KJ/g
Study of Thermo-Mechanical Properties of HTPB–Paraffin Solid FuelAbstract
The classic hybrid rocket which employs hydroxylterminated polybutadiene (HTPB) fuel is characterized by low ablation rate. To enhance the ablation rate, paraffin was added to the HTPB.
The combustion enthalpy of HTPB blended with paraffin is determined by oxygen bomb calorimeter at a constant volume. The standard combustion enthalpy of pure HTPB and paraffin was found to be 37.9 and 41.9MJ kg−1.
Combining some of the above values and converting them into the same units I get(assuming I didn't screw this up):
- Code: Select all
Table of calorific value of fuels
Fuel Calorific value
Hydrogen 150 KJ/g
Kerosene oil 48 KJ/g
Paraffin 43 KJ/g
HTPB 38 KJ/g
Car tires 35 KJ/g
Neoprene 30 KJ/g
Rubber 23 KJ/g