Anti-oxidants, composite propellants

The Armed Forces demand a long shelf-life (min 10-12 years) for propellants for use in different rockets and missiles. However, the shelf-life of propellants is limited. There are some chemicals which on their addition to these propellants during their manufacture retard the processes responsible for their deterioration and consequently, increase their shelf-life. The main purpose of addition of these chemicals in propellant formulations is to enhance their shelf-life without adversely affecting their manufacturing processes and properties. Such chemicals or additives are known as stabilizers in case of DB and composite modified double-base (CMDB) propellants whereas anti-oxidants in the case of composite propellants. The additives for this purpose are therefore selected depending on the type of propellant. 

Table 4.9 Some commercially available anti-oxidants for composite propellants.

Static evaluation of HTPB based composite propellants with potential anti-oxidants, unpublished work. 

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