Free Radical Detection and Dynamics in Propellant Ignition and Combustion Systems.
Abstract
In order to obtain a detailed characterization of the chemistry and energetics of the processes which constitute the first stages of the decomposition of the model propellants nitromethane and methyl nitrite, three types of experiment were pursued. In the first series of studies, infrared spectra were obtained for the products of the ultraviolet photodissociation of these two compounds isolated in solid argon at 14 K. Infrared spectra were also obtained for the products of H-atom abstraction from nitromethane and methyl nitrite, including the first spectroscopic observation of the nitromethyl free radical. A summary of the information obtained regarding the chemical reaction mechanism for the first stages of the decomposition of nitromethane and methyl nitrite is presented. In the second series of experiments, the characteristics of a CO2 laser with a uniquely will defined radiation pulse were tested and this laser was used together with laser-induced fluorescence detection to obtain the energy distribution in the resulting NO when methyl nitrite was dissociated. A marked preference for one spin-orbit state of the NO was observed. The third series of experiments was concerned with the infrared multiphoton dissociation of a pulsed beam of methyl nitrate or nitromethane coupled with matrix isolation sampling and infrared study of the resulting decomposition products.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 21, 1984
- Accession Number
- ADA142180
Entities
People
- J. C. Stephenson
- M. E. Jacox
Organizations
- National Institute of Standards and Technology