Detonation Wave Speed of Jet A-1 and Sustainable Aviation Fuel |
| 3 July 2026, Friday, 2:00pm to 2:30pm | Speaker: Dr. Alvin Teo Zhen Wei, Senior Research Scientist, TL@NUS |
| Venue: Seminar Room 8D-1, Level 8, Temasek Laboratories | Event Organiser Host: Dr. Sai Sudha Ramesh |
ABSTRACT |
The term “SAF”, or Sustainable Aviation Fuel, is used in the aviation industry to describe a non-conventional (fossil derived) aviation fuel. SAF provides environmental benefits over conventional fossil fuels through a reduction in the CO2 emissions across its entire life cycle, from production to transportation and finally combustion. While there has been much testing of SAF in terms of their combustion properties, there is currently a lack of data on the detonation properties, such as wave speed and cell size, of SAF in general, unlike other conventional fuels that have been steadily amassed over the years. Therein lies the interest of this study, and how it may impact the performance and design of pressure gain combustors, which utilizes the detonation process to improve thermal efficiency. A single-shot detonation tube was used to determine the detonation wave speed of Jet A-1 and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). |
| ABOUT THE SPEAKER |
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Performance of a Regeneratively-Cooled Disk Pressure Gain Combustor |
| 3 July 2026, Friday, 2:30pm to 3:00pm | Speaker: Mr. Chua Peng Hwee, Engineering Doctorate Student, Department of Mechanical Engineering, NUS |
| Venue: Seminar Room 8D-1, Level 8, Temasek Laboratories | Event Organiser Host: Dr. Sai Sudha Ramesh |
ABSTRACT |
High-vapour-pressure liquid reactants are promising propellants for pressure gain combustors (PGC) due to their high energy density and self-pressurising storage properties, which eliminate the need for dedicated pressurised feed systems. Under atmospheric or mildly elevated pressure conditions, these reactants rapidly vaporise, absorbing large amounts of latent heat in the process. The resulting vapour-phase mixture promotes initiation and sustenance of continuous detonation within the combustor. In this seminar, I will discuss the detonability, sustenance, and performance of a disk-shaped PGC operated using liquid reactants. |
| ABOUT THE SPEAKER |
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Dr. Alvin Teo Zhen Wei received his Ph.D. from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in 2018. He joined TL@NUS approximately 5 years ago. Prior to that, he was at NTU, working on an industrial project in collaboration with Leonardo Company on aerodynamic improvements to helicopter operations.
Mr. Chua Peng Hwee is an EngD student from National University of Singapore. He received a B.Eng. in Aerospace Engineering from Nanyang Technological University in 2019. His thesis focuses on performance quantification and improvement in pressure gain combustors.