Liquid Monopropellant

A new composition involving a solution of ADN in a mixture of glycerol and water has been presented as a new non-toxic monopropellant with a better specific impulse (Isp) than hydrazine [25], Below is a table of performance, Isp at an expansion ratio of 50 and toxicity as LD5o orally, compared with hydrazine and hydroxylammonium nitrate (HAN).2 HAN has over the past seven years emerged as a Green 

Propellant candidate for space propulsion, instead of hydrazine. These figures suggest that ADN might be yet another solution, since the specific impulse is higher and toxicity lower. 

Specific impulse and toxicity data for some monopropellant systems. 

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Feath, G. M., "High-Pressure Liquid-Monopropellant Strand Combustion," Combustion and Flame, 18 (1972). 

Cachia, G. P. und Withebread, E. G. The Initiation of Explosives by Shock, Proc. Roy. Soc. A 246, 268-273 (1958). Card-Gap Test for Shock Sensitivity of Liquid Monopropellant, Test Nr. 1, Recommended by the JANAF Panel on Liquid Monopropellant Test Methods, March 1960 Amster, A. B., Noonan, E. C. und Bryan, G. J. Solid Propellant Detonability, ARS-Journal 30, 960-964 (1960)... 

M.A. Cook et al, JApplPhys 30, 1579-84(1959) (Instrumented Card-Gap or SPHF-Plate Test) 23) Baum, Stanyukovich Shekhter (1959). 754-71 (Deton by influence thru air) 771-78 (Deton by influence thru condensed media) 778-81 (Safe distances for propagation of deton betw some expl chges used in Rus coal mines) 23a) Liquid Propellants Info Agency, Applied Physics Lab, Johns Hopkins Univ, "Liquid Propellants Test Methods, Test No 1, Card-Gap Test for Shock Sensitivity of Liquid Monopropellants (March i960)... 

Goldman, Liquid Monopropellants and Their Application , General Dynamics/Astronautics Bibliography, San Diego, Calif (1959)... 

Lund, Encapsulated Liquid Monopropellant Ammunition Feasibility Study , Eglin AFB Tech Rept AFATL-TR-61-27 by Thiokol Chemical Corp, Wasatch Division, Brigham City, Utah (1968) 26) R.F. Fletcher, Ann-... 

Table 4.2 Formulations and properties of some liquid monopropellants.

Liquid monopropellant Chemical formula Specific impulse /N s kg-1 Flame temperature/K... 

Kiley (35) attempted to burn liquid monopropellants in nitrogen by the method of suspended droplets and by the technique of a porous Alundum sphere (7 mm. in diameter). These experiments did not yield stable combustion in an inert gaseous atmosphere. For combustion in air he reports the evaporation constants for hydrazine and nitromethane (Table IV). 

Nauflett and Farncomb [81] have described the easy destruction of Otto Fuel II, a three-component liquid monopropellant used for torpedo propulsion, by Ce(IV) in a mineral acid electrolyte. Chung and Park [82] have treated aniline solutions with Ce(IV) and Co(III) as mediators, the final product being C02. Parameters affecting current efficiency included oxidation potentials of mediators, their concentrations, and temperature. 

Wingborg, N., Larsson, A., Elfsberg, M., and Appelgren, P., Characterization and ignition of ADN-based liquid monopropellants, in 41st AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit, Tucson, AZ July 2005 (AIAA 2005-4468). 

A monopropellant is a fuel that is capable of reacting exothermically without an oxidizer. Numerous such fuels are known many are liquids. A droplet of liquid monopropellant can burn in an inert atmosphere without an oxidizer. There are rockets that employ liquid monopropellants as fuels for propulsion in some applications these are better suited than bipropellant rockets that employ a liquid fuel and a liquid oxidizer. The relevance of monopropellant droplet combustion to the operation of monopropellant rockets and fundamental curiosity have prompted studies of the subject. 

High-pressure jets can be generated by self-igniting (in a preheated volume) or igniting with a spark. This is achieved either by injecting a partially reacted material in air into a fuel-rich liquid monopropellant or by injecting the products of decomposition of a small amount of monopropellant together with a conventional hydrocarbon fuel. The intention of this study is to answer the above-formulated questions. 

Liquid monopropellants incorporating the PIL into the solution have so been produced, consisting of water, ammonium nitrate, and all l-, dialkyl-, or trialkyl ammoniitm nitrate or alkanol-, dialkmol-, or trialkanolammorrirrm rri-trate,236 These materials were easy to handle, were nonftam-mable, had zero organic vapor emission, were less corrosive than conventional monopropellants, and did not contain hydrazine or hydroxylammonium nitrate. In addition, the costs were expected to be about one-third compared to conventionally used monopropellants. ... 

The detonative potential of compositions based on Mg, benzotrifluoride and other fluorocarbons had been investigated in the 1950s the corresponding work is still classified today (B.E. Douda, personal communication). Regardless of the known dangers of these combinations, mixtures of metal powders and benzotrifluoride have been proposed as liquid monopropellants. 

Amariei, D., Courtheoux, L., Rossignol, S., Batonneau, Y., Kappienstein, C., Ford, M. Pillet, N. (2005). Influence of Fuel on Thermal and Catalytic Decompositions of Ionic Liquid Monopropellants. AIAA paper 2005-3980, ISSN 0146-3705. Available from http //www.aiaa.org/ content.cfm pageid=320... 

Ticknor, B. W., Anderson, J. K., Fritz, B. A. Chiu, Y.-H. (2010). Effect of Asp>ect Ratio on the Wettability and Electrospray Properties of Porous Tungsten Emitters with the Ionic Liquid [Emim] [Im], AIAA-Paper 2010-6618, ISSN 0146-3705 Wingborg, N., Eldsater, C. Henrik, S. (2004). Formulation and characterization of ADN-based liquid monopropellants, European Space Agency, SP-557, ISBN 978-92-909286-6-9, pp. 101-106... 

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