Feasibility Study and Demonstration of an Aluminum and Ice Solid Propellant

Abstract

Aluminum-water reactions have been proposed and studied for several decades for underwater propulsion systems and applications requiring hydrogen generation. Aluminum and water have also been proposed as a frozen propellant, and there have been proposals for other refrigerated propellants that could be mixed, frozen in situ, and used as solid propellants. However, little work has been done to determine the feasibility of these concepts. With the recent availability of nanoscale aluminum, a simple binary formulation with water is now feasible. Nanosized aluminum has a lower ignition temperature than micron-sized aluminum particles, partly due to its high surface area, and burning times are much faster than micron aluminum. Frozen nanoscale aluminum and water mixtures are stable, as well as insensitive to electrostatic discharge, impact, and shock. Here we report a study of the feasibility of an nAl-ice propellant in small-scale rocket experiments. The focus here is not to develop an optimized propellant; however improved formulations are possible. Several static motor experiments have been conducted, including using a flight-weight casing. The flight weight casing was used in the first sounding rocket test of an aluminum-ice propellant, establishing a proof of concept for simple propellant mixtures making use of nanoscale particles.

Combustion of a frozen bi-dispersed aluminum-water suspension

“…The experimental research [5] shows that the burning time of an aluminum particle in water vapor is determined by its initial diameter was considered as the only coefficient used for fitting the computed results and experimental data. The coefficient was reconciled by comparing the calculated burning rate of a frozen nano-aluminum-water suspension (ALICE fuel) with experimental data [7]. The calculation results of the burning rate for the same suspension depending on pressure are presented in [2].…”

In-line and Real-time Monitoring of Resonant Acoustic Mixing by Near-infrared Spectroscopy Combined with Chemometric Technology for Process Analytical Technology Applications in Pharmaceutical Powder Blending Systems

“…The system is explained in more detail in previous reports. [25][26][27][28][29] Previously, we reported that RAM is estimated to repeatedly throw the powder upward into the air and perform mixing by utilizing free fall (Fig. 1).…”

The Effect of Thermophoresis on Flame Propagation in Nano-Aluminum and Water Mixtures

“…Experimental studies have been conducted to characterize the combustion of aluminum particles at nano-and micro-scales with water [9][10][11][12][13]. Also, several numerical and analytical models have been developed to get a better understanding of this process [14][15][16].…”