Stability Assessment of Ultrasound-Assisted Dispersion of Boron as a High-Energy-Density Particle in Hydrocarbon Fuel: A Response Surface Methodology Approach

The current studies elucidate the surface functionalization of boron particles to enhance dispersion stability. The boron particles were chosen because of their high gravimetric and volumetric calorific values. These particles were tailored by silane modification and dispersed into liquid hydrocarbon fuel to enhance the energy content. The experimental trials were done to demonstrate the stability of particles based on the response surface methodology (RSM) to optimize the response by varying factors such as the composition of (A) boron particles and (B) silane with (C) ultrasound power to obtain a stable dispersion of the fuel slurry. The Box-Behnken design was chosen for the response surface experiments. As a result, the spectroscopic, crystallographic, and morphological characteristics revealed interesting corroboration effects in enhancing the stability of boron particles for various compositions with the hydrocarbon fuel. The optimized conditions for retaining fuel slurry with maximum stability at an ultrasound power of 195.5 W for 3-glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane concentration and boron particle concentration were 0.625 and 3 wt %, respectively, to obtain 72 h of stability. The second-order polynomial quadratic equation determines the stability and R-2 = 0.9949. The RSM has facilitated the determination of practical optimal values for various research variables, providing valuable insights into their interactions. This model is adequate, statistically validated, effective, and logically reliable and also minimizes the cost for conducting the experimental trial runs.