Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Highest density Organic Fuel?!

MineMan - 11-11-2021 at 20:57

Hello all! What’s the highest density organic fuel (solid or liquid).

The best I could find was amino-guanidine, semicarbazide, and Urazine.

B(a)P - 11-11-2021 at 21:17

[2,2′-bi(1,3,4-oxadiazole)]-5,5′-dinitramide

unionised - 12-11-2021 at 04:45

Iodoform.
Lousy fuel, but very dense

clearly_not_atara - 12-11-2021 at 06:52

If you mean as a bipropellant, reacting with air oxygen, and considering the heat of combustion per unit volume, I'm going with cubane.

Heat of combustion 4833 kJ/mol, density 1.29/H2O, molar mass 104.15 gives a whopping 59.86 MJ/L, compare diesel at about 37 MJ/L or LiBH4 at 44 MJ/L.

Of course, if you consider solid carbon an "organic fuel", its energy density is even higher at around 75 MJ/L.

SWIM - 12-11-2021 at 10:07

CD4, but you'd have to get it really hot to get that energy out. (fission based primer)

Organouranium 235 compounds would be less energetic, but still have quite a kick.
I have no Idea if they'd work in a bomb, but they sure ought to work in a reactor.


I'm assuming you mean highest energy density.
Looks like Unionized answered the question you actually asked.

Edit: Solid carbon? Organic? Clearly not, Atara!
No carbon hydrogen bonds.






[Edited on 12-11-2021 by SWIM]

Tsjerk - 12-11-2021 at 10:24

Hexaiodobenzene, 4.6.

Maybe make that pentaiodobenzoic acid salted with a heavy metal.

[Edited on 12-11-2021 by Tsjerk]

Fyndium - 12-11-2021 at 10:41

Quote: Originally posted by SWIM  
CD4, but you'd have to get it really hot to get that energy out. (fission based primer)


If that counts, I say antimatter. 50 megatons per kg, don't bother calculating the joules, you know it's a lot.

unionised - 12-11-2021 at 10:42

A bit more digging leads to
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexaiodobenzene
There may be denser options.

SWIM - 12-11-2021 at 11:23

Quote: Originally posted by Fyndium  
Quote: Originally posted by SWIM  
CD4, but you'd have to get it really hot to get that energy out. (fission based primer)


If that counts, I say antimatter. 50 megatons per kg, don't bother calculating the joules, you know it's a lot.


Yup, but making organic molecules out of antimatter would be pretty tough.

Sigma Aldrich sells CD4 by the liter.

How would one go about making anticarbon?

MineMan - 12-11-2021 at 13:43

All. Thank you for the responses! I should clarify my question. It would be for a scram jet, so all atoms would have to be active, or mostly. Iodine would be dead weight, and antimatter, we’ll give me a ring when you figure it out :)

The important thing would be for the combustion to be gaseous, no metals. I am now thinking that graphite or, despite it not being practical diamond?! Semicarbazide and Urazine are still very dense. It seems cubane would be a winner as well, tho that is even less practical than diamonds do to the cost?!

MineMan - 12-11-2021 at 13:45

Quote: Originally posted by SWIM  
CD4, but you'd have to get it really hot to get that energy out. (fission based primer)

Organouranium 235 compounds would be less energetic, but still have quite a kick.
I have no Idea if they'd work in a bomb, but they sure ought to work in a reactor.


I'm assuming you mean highest energy density.
Looks like Unionized answered the question you actually asked.

Edit: Solid carbon? Organic? Clearly not, Atara!
No carbon hydrogen bonds.

What is CD4?




[Edited on 12-11-2021 by SWIM]

SWIM - 12-11-2021 at 14:09

Deuterated methane.

Obviously not scramjet fuel though.

And the carbon would be dead weight. I just though the idea of an organic fuel for a nuclear reaction was amusing.