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CO2 laser ignition experimental results are reported for the high‐nitrogen materials 3,6‐dihydrazino‐1,2,4,5‐tetrazine (DHT), 3,3′‐diamino‐4,4′‐azoxyfurazan (DAAF), and mixed N‐oxides of 3,3′‐azo‐bis(6‐amino‐1,2,4,5‐tetrazine) (DAATO3.5, where the “3.5” indicates the average oxide content) at a maximum irradiance level of approximately 140 W/cm2. Diagnostics include a photodiode, indium antimonide (InSb) IR detector, high speed (HS) video and a CO2 photodetector. “First light” is measured for DAATO3.5 and DAAF, however, due to the low visible light emission of the gas phase, thermal runaway, as measured by the InSb, is used as the ignition criterion for DHT. Ignition in the gas phase is captured by the high speed camera. It is observed that an increase in laser irradiance results in an increase in ignition and flame stand‐off distance for DAATO3.5. The high‐nitrogen material laser ignition results are compared to the common nitramine explosive, octahydro‐1,3,5,7‐tetranitro‐1,3,5,7‐tetrazocine (HMX). Laser ignition delays for the different high‐nitrogen materials are also compared in the context of Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) data. It is determined that DSC onset temperature, while a rough indicator of ignition delay trends, is not the equivalent of a direct measure of ignition temperature.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy’s (FE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), in partnership with private industries, is leading the development and demonstration of high efficiency solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and fuel cell turbine hybrid power generation systems for near term distributed generation (DG) markets with an emphasis on premium power and high reliability. NETL is partnering with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in developing new directions in research under the Solid-State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA) initiative for the development and commercialization of modular, low cost, and fuel flexible SOFC systems. The SECA initiative, through advanced materials, processing and system integration research and development, will bring the fuel cell cost to $400 per kilowatt (kW) for stationary and auxiliary power unit (APU) markets. The President of the U.S. has launched us into a new hydrogen economy. The logic of a hydrogen economy is compelling. The movement to a hydrogen economy will accomplish several strategic goals. The U.S. can use its own domestic resources—solar, wind, hydro, and coal. The U.S. uses 20 percent of the world’s oil but has only 3 percent of resources. Also, the U.S. can reduce green house gas emissions. Clear Skies and Climate Change initiatives aim to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions. SOFCs have no emissions, so they figure significantly in these DOE strategies. In addition, DG—SOFCs, reforming, energy storage—has significant benefit for enhanced security and reliability. The use of fuel cells in cars is expected to bring about the hydrogen economy. However, commercialization of fuel cells is expected to proceed first through portable and stationary applications. This logic says to develop SOFCs for a wide range of stationary and APU applications, initially for conventional fuels, then switch to hydrogen. Like all fuel cells, the SOFC will operate even better on hydrogen than conventional fuels. The SOFC hybrid is a key part of the FutureGen plants. FutureGen is a major new Presidential initiative to produce hydrogen from coal. The highly efficient SOFC hybrid plant will produce electric power and other parts of the plant could produce hydrogen and sequester CO2. The hydrogen produced can be used in fuel cell cars and for SOFC DG applications.

Nanocomposite thermite mixtures are currently under development for many primer applications due to their high energy densities, high ignition sensitivity, and low release of toxins into the environment. However, variability and inconsistencies in combustion performance have not been sufficiently investigated. Environmental interactions with the reactants are thought to be a contributing factor to these variabilities. Combustion velocity experiments were conducted on aluminum (Al) and molybdenum trioxide (MoO 3 ) mixtures to investigate the role of environmental interactions such as light exposure and humidity. While the Al particles were maintained in an ambient, constant environment, the MoO 3 particles were exposed to UV or fluorescent light, and highly humid environments. Results show that UV and fluorescent lighting over a period of days does not significantly contribute to performance deterioration. However, a humid environment severely decreases combustion performance if the oxidizer particles are not heat-treated. Heat treatment of the MoO 3 greatly increases the materials ability to resist water absorption, yielding more repeatable combustion performance. This work further quantifies the role of the environment in the decrease of combustion performance of nanocomposites over time.