Assessment of Physico‐Thermal Properties, Combustion Performance, and Ignition Delay Time of Dimethyl Amino Ethanol as a Novel Liquid Fuel

Abstract

Dimethyl amino ethanol (DMAE) contains both hydroxyl and amino functional groups, which may be introduced as a new liquid fuel with high safety and less toxicity with respect to common high performance liquid fuels. Physico‐thermal properties, combustion performance and ignition delay time of DMAE are compared with the usual high performance liquid fuels as well as ethanol and dimethylamine. Combustion performances of DMAE (specific impulse at sea level) with common liquid oxidizers including white fuming nitric acid (WFNA), inhibited red fuming nitric acid (IRFNA), nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), liquid oxygen (LOX), and the mixed oxides of nitrogen (MON) are also evaluated. Maximum and minimum specific impulses of DMAE are obtained with LOX (299.6 s) and WFNA (262.4 s), respectively. Maximum density‐specific impulse is obtained with DMAE‐N2O4 bipropellant. The ignition delay time of DMAE with several liquid oxidizers are measured with open cup test method. DMAE‐WFNA and DMAE‐IRFNA bipropellants are hypergolic where their ignition delay times are 26 and 42 milliseconds, respectively.