Feasibility Study and Demonstration of an Aluminum and Ice Solid Propellant
Joint Authors
Tsohas, John
Pfeil, Mark A.
Pourpoint, Timothee L.
Son, Steven F.
Wood, Tyler D.
Source
International Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Issue
Vol. 2012, Issue 2012 (31 Dec. 2012), pp.1-11, 11 p.
Publisher
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Publication Date
2012-07-18
Country of Publication
Egypt
No. of Pages
11
Main Subjects
Engineering Sciences and Information Technology
Abstract EN
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.
American Psychological Association (APA)
Pourpoint, Timothee L.& Wood, Tyler D.& Pfeil, Mark A.& Tsohas, John& Son, Steven F.. 2012. Feasibility Study and Demonstration of an Aluminum and Ice Solid Propellant. International Journal of Aerospace Engineering،Vol. 2012, no. 2012, pp.1-11.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-505255
Modern Language Association (MLA)
Pourpoint, Timothee L.…[et al.]. Feasibility Study and Demonstration of an Aluminum and Ice Solid Propellant. International Journal of Aerospace Engineering No. 2012 (2012), pp.1-11.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-505255
American Medical Association (AMA)
Pourpoint, Timothee L.& Wood, Tyler D.& Pfeil, Mark A.& Tsohas, John& Son, Steven F.. Feasibility Study and Demonstration of an Aluminum and Ice Solid Propellant. International Journal of Aerospace Engineering. 2012. Vol. 2012, no. 2012, pp.1-11.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-505255
Data Type
Journal Articles
Language
English
Notes
Includes bibliographical references
Record ID
BIM-505255