What would be a property of an ideal fuel?

Question

Son's homework. He needs 8 properties of an ideal fuel. I don't even understand the question!

Answer 1

This would be my guess, hope it helps

1. Cheap to produce, mine or exists naturally like hydrogen.
2. Has good energy/mass ratio. e.g produces a lot of joules per Kg.
3. Does not produce harmful gases or by-products when burnt
4. Can be recycled.
5. The by-products are useful or not detrimental to the environment, such as the production of water when hydrogen is combusted.
6. Is not too dangerous. e.g explosive like gun powder.
7. It is easily transportable.
8. It is easily stored safely.

Answer 2

A fuel is substance that serves as an "energy carrier". That means it's a way of transporting and storing the energy needed by a machine in cases where you cannot just plug the machine in. The most common example of this is a vehicle. The ideal fuel, then, is cheap to manufacture from whatever energy source it is made from, is cheap to move from the fuel manufacturer to the vehicle's storage container (like a gas or liquid), has a high energy density both in terms of Joules per unit mass and per unit volume (liquids are better than gases for the latter), and it can be cheaply, quickly, and efficiently converted into the desired form of energy (like the kinetic energy of a moving car). It should not be too dangerous to handle, or harmful to the enviroment in terms of it manufacture, use, or waste products. Finally, the ultimate energy source and/or raw materials it's made from should be abundant so that it can be used for a long time (otherwise it would not be worth the expense to build up the infrastructure to use it).


There's more than 8 things there if you break it all down. Now, please don't just do you son's homework for him. Sit down with him and explain these things in terms he can understand. Normally I don't knowingly answer homework problems, but since you're a parent, you can make sure this information is learned instead of just copied.

Answer 3

On the assumption that the fuel is to be utilised for similar purposes as petroleum or propane the following properties may be useful:

1/ Readily sourced so that continued supply is assured.

2/ Easily converted from raw state to usable so that production and refining costs are minimal.

3/ The raw source must be naturally volatile to reduce dependence on additional mixing ingredients to produce final product.

4/ Able to produce controlled explosive results in minuscule confined spaces.

5/ Capable of passing through fine apertures like needle thin diameter jets to ensure metering, throttling and flow control.

6/ Capable of being easily and safely stored for packaging, transport, distribution and decanting.

7/ Renewable so that supply is not finite.

8/ Widespread ready sourcing so that onerous geo-political alliances are negated.

9/ Environmentally friendly to user populace and ecology with-out short or long term deleterious or degradation effects.

10/ Capable of being used in equipment readily produced, maintained, acquired and operated by a relatively unskilled populace.

11/ Optimal energy return on usage investment: must produce a many-fold effect for quantity consumed.

12/ Must have a retail pricing comfortably within the reach of potential consumers to ensure ready market uptake and expansion.

13/ Must have broad appliction abilities and market longevity sufficient to recoup initial and ongoing research and development expenditure with enough profitability potential to provide initial investment capital.

These are but few necessary qualities for a desirable fuel that quickly occur -- there may well be a plethora of others.
Hope this helps.

Answer 4

O. V. Dorofeeva1 , V. S. Yungman1, R. M. Varushchenko2 and A. I. Druzhinina2

(1) Glushko Thermocenter, Institute for High Energy Densities of Associated Institute for High Temperatures, Russian Academy of Sciences, Izhorskaya St. 13/19, Moscow, 125412, Russia
(2) Department of Chemistry, Moscow State University, Moscow, 119992, Russia


Abstract Ideal gas thermodynamic properties, S°(T), C p°(, T), H°(T)–H°(0), f H°(T), and f G°(T), are obtained on the basis of density functional B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) and B3LYP/6-311 + G(3df,2p) calculations for two propyl tert-butyl ethers. All torsional motions about C–C and C–O bonds were treated as hindered internal rotations using the independent-rotor model. An empirical approximation was assumed to account for the effect of the coupling of rotor potentials. The correction for rotor–rotor coupling was found by fitting to entropy values determined from calorimetric measurements. Enthalpies of formation were calculated using isodesmic reactions.
calorimetric measurements - DFT calculations - heat capacity - ideal gas - propyl tert-butyl ethers - thermodynamic properties

Answer 5

Produce the energy by nature given power as: Water falls,
wind power, sea waves, tide water streames etc..

The energy carrier, the fuel might be hydrogen ore materials not left in nature.