Combustion of nano-aluminum and liquid water

Cryogenic solid propellants (CSP) are a new kind of chemical propellants that use frozen products to ensure the mechanical resistance of the grain. The objective is to combine the high performances of liquid propulsion and the simplicity of solid propulsion. The CSP concept has few disadvantages. Storability is limited by the need of permanent cooling between motor loading and ¦ring. It needs insulations that increase the dry mass. It is possible to limit signi¦cantly these drawbacks by using a cooling temperature near the ambient one. It will permit not to change the motor materials and to minimize the supplementary dry mass due to insulator. The designation ¤Refrigerated Solid Propellant¥ (RPS) is in that case more appropriate as ¤Cryogenic Solid Propellant.¥ SNPE Mat‚ eriaux Energ‚ etiques is developing new concept of composition with cooling temperature as near the ambient temperature as possible. They are homogeneous and the main ingredients are hydrogen peroxide, polymer and metal or metal hydride, they are called ¤Hydroxalane TM .¥ This concept allows reaching a high energy level. The expected speci¦c impulse is between 355 and 375 s against 315 s for hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) / ammonium perchlorate (AP) / Al composition. However, the density is lower than for current propellants, between 1377 and 1462 kg/m 3 compared to around 1800 kg/m 3 . This is an handicap only for volume-limited application. Works have been carried out at laboratory scale to de¦ne the quality of the raw materials and the manufacturing process to realize sample and small grain in a safer manner. To assess the process, a small grain with an internal bore had been realized with a composition based on aluminum and water. This grain had shown very good quality, without any defect, and good bonding properties on the insulator.

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“…For a composition close to that presented in this study, a stable end-to-end combustion was observed in [4].…”

Section: Small-scale Firing Testsupporting

confidence: 86%

New high energetic composite propellants for space applications: refrigerated solid propellant

Franson¹,

Orlandi²,

Perut³

et al. 2009

Progress in Propulsion Physics

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“…4, the hydrate liberates water at a temperature near 200°C. Other researchers have observed 17 and we have also observed in our laboratory 18 that the direct combustion of Al and water to form hydrogen. The sum of this evidence strongly supports the threecomponent combustion of Al, WO 2 , and water, as represented by Eq.…”

Section: Comparison Of Hydrate To Oxidesupporting

confidence: 80%

“…This conclusion was supported by other researchers who have investigated the direct combustion of aluminum by water. 17,18 Further, CHEETAH calculations also support this conclusion. The hydrogen gas formation has the additional advantage of the ability to perform net work on the surroundings, making the hydrate material a potential candidate for applications that require net gas production.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 58%

Energy release characteristics of the nanoscale aluminum-tungsten oxide hydrate metastable intermolecular composite

Perry

Tappan

Reardon

et al. 2007

Journal of Applied Physics

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Son, "Energy release characteristics of the nano-scale aluminum tungsten-oxide hydrate metastable intermolecular composite," Journal of Applied Physics, 101(6): 064313, 2007. dx.doi.org/10.1063/ 1.2435797 Energy release characteristics of the nanoscale aluminum-tungsten oxide hydrate metastable intermolecular composite Tungsten oxides are of interest as an oxidant for metals in metastable intermolecular composites ͑MICs͒, a reactive nanoscale powder useful for such applications as electric matches and gun primers. Smaller particles typically lead to fast reaction rates in this class of energetic material, and we have synthesized nanoscale WO 3 ·H 2 O using wet chemistry. Analysis by electron microscopy and small angle x-ray scattering revealed an approximately 100-nm-wide by 7-nm-thick platelet morphology. X-ray diffraction verified the orthorhombic structure and composition of the hydrate. A MIC material was formulated using 44 nm Al as the fuel. Performance was measured using a pressure cell where total enthalpy change and energy release rate was measured. This report includes the thermodynamic analysis of the pressure cell ͑calorimetry͒ that allows the determination of these metrics. Accuracy of the technique is discussed. Performance of the hydrate was found to significantly exceed that of MIC formulated with dehydrated tungsten oxide for one formulation, having an energy release of approximately 1.8 MJ/ kg at a rate of approximately 215 GW/ m 2 , compared to around 1.1 MJ/ kg at a rate of around 130 GW/ m 2 for the dehydrated formulation. The data show that the enhanced behavior of the hydrated MIC formulation resulted from the reaction of aluminum with the interstitially bound water, which had additional energy release and generated hydrogen gas.

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“…The chamber, experimental setup, and basic procedure is described in more detail and shown schematically in a previous publication. 63 As a fuel-rich premixed fuel and oxidizer mixture (or monopropellant), there is no need to provide a separate oxidizer with the NM. Ignition of each sample was accomplished using an ignition booster made of double-base gun propellant (NOSOL 363), threaded over a strand of nichrome wire, which is placed slightly submerged at the top of the liquid column.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functionalized Graphene Sheet Colloids for Enhanced Fuel/Propellant Combustion

Dabbs²,

et al. 2009

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We have compared the combustion of the monopropellant nitromethane with that of nitromethane containing colloidal particles of functionalized graphene sheets or metal hydroxides. The linear steady-state burning rates of the monopropellant and colloidal suspensions were determined at room temperature, under a range of pressures (3.35؊14.4 MPa) using argon as a pressurizing fluid. The ignition temperatures were lowered and burning rates increased for the colloidal suspensions compared to those of the liquid monopropellant alone, with the graphene sheet suspension having significantly greater burning rates (i.e., greater than 175%). The relative change in burning rate from neat nitromethane increased with increasing concentrations of fuel additives and decreased with increasing pressure until at high pressures no enhancement was found.

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Combustion of nano-aluminum and liquid water

Cited by 185 publications

References 14 publications

New high energetic composite propellants for space applications: refrigerated solid propellant

New high energetic composite propellants for space applications: refrigerated solid propellant

Energy release characteristics of the nanoscale aluminum-tungsten oxide hydrate metastable intermolecular composite

Functionalized Graphene Sheet Colloids for Enhanced Fuel/Propellant Combustion

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