One way to improve fuel efficiency in today’s jet aircraft engines is to create an environment for higher operating temperatures and speeds. New and improved lubricants and bearing materials must be developed to remain stable in these elevated operating temperatures. Three lubricants, with varying amounts of tricresyl phosphate added as an anti-wear/extreme pressure additive were tested on two ...

An understanding of hydrogen diffusion on metal surfaces is important not only for its role in heterogeneous catalysis and hydrogen fuel cell technology but also because it provides model systems where tunneling can be studied under well-defined conditions. Here we report helium spin-echo measurements of the atomic-scale motion of hydrogen on the Ru(0001) surface between 75 and 250 K. Quantum e...

Viscosity is an important property to known in energy engineering. Most lubricants are named after a ranking system that is directly related to how viscous that sample is. In addition to this, liquid fuels that are too viscous cannot achieve proper combustion in engines. In this report, a sample of baby oil was tested using Saybolt Universal viscometry to illustrate how increases in temperature...

In this study, the effects of JP-4-biodiesel-diesel blends and engine operating parameters on the performance characteristics of a diesel engine were investigated. The experimental tests were performed on a four-cylinder DI diesel engine. The Mixture-RSM method was applied to develop the mathematical models based on the experimental data. The results showed that the fitted models could be prope...

The thermal barrier coating (TBC) of jet engine turbines permits operation at what otherwise would be prohibitively high temperatures. Ideally, a jet engine should operate at very high temperatures to maximize fuel efficiency and power. Combustion gases are often held at temperatures above 1370° C, while engine metal superalloys have melting points that range between 1230° and 1315° C. As a res...

Frost protection or protecting plants from cold temperatures where they could be damaged must be a consideration in vineyard planning. Cold protection events commonly occur during “radiation” frost conditions when the sky is clear, there is little wind and strong temperature inversions can develop. These conditions can happen during spring, fall or winter when it is necessary to keep canes, bud...