Influence of conventional and supramolecular gellants on the rheological properties of JP-10 gel fuels

Abstract

The effects of a conventional gellant and different types of supramolecular gellants on the rheological properties of JP-10 gel fuels are studied. Various concentrations of 1,2:5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-D-mannitol (IPM) and 1,2:5,6-di-O-cyclohexylidene-D-mannitol (CHM) supramolecular gellants are utilized for the preparation of JP-10 based gel fuels, and their rheological properties are compared with those of a conventional molecular gellant (Thixatrol ST (TST)) based gel fuel. Rheological characterization results show that all gellant types can create a gel structure within JP-10 fuel, including the TST-based gel fuel with a gellant concentration of 1.0 wt%, since their tanδ values are significantly lower than 1. The lowest tanδ values, hence the most significant solid-like behavior, were obtained for the TST-based gel fuels. However, the highest stiffness values were obtained for the CHM gellant-based JP-10 gel fuels, and the lowest stiffness values were obtained for the TST-based JP-10 gel fuels.