THE RADIOLYTIC DECOMPOSITION OF HYDRAZINE, RP-1, AND HYDYNE ROCKET FUELS

Abstract

One-hundred-milliliter samples of the storable liquid rocket fuels hydrazine, RP-1, and Hydyne generate, respectively, 89.1, 50.3 and 149.4 ml of radiolytic off-gas (measured at 25C and 1 atm) when irradiated to 86,000,000 rads with gamma rays. When approximately 5 wt-% of an efficient, olefinic, free-radical scavenger is added to the samples, the off-gas volume produced by RP-1 fuel is reduced by 18.7% while those of hydrazine and Hydyne fuels are not reduced. These scavenging effects show that RP-1 fuel decomposes radiolytically by both free-radical (18.7%) and molecular mechanisms, and that hydrazine and Hydyne fuels decompose entirely by a molecular or ionic mechanism.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 05, 1966
Accession Number
AD0632461

Entities

People

  • Wesley E. Shelberg

Organizations

  • Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Alkenes
  • Amides
  • Chemical Synthesis
  • Chemistry
  • Decomposition
  • Dimethylhydrazines
  • Free Radicals
  • Gamma Rays
  • High Vacuum
  • Hydrazines
  • Hydrocarbon Fuels
  • Hydrogen
  • Ionizing Radiation
  • Liquid Rocket Fuels
  • Organic Chemistry
  • Production
  • Rocket Fuels

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Organic Chemistry
  • Rocket Propulsion.