Combustion of Nitramine and Nitrate Ester Propellants

Abstract

The burning rate of some nitramine and nitrate ester propellants has been measured as a function of the ambient gas composition and pressure. The presence of oxygen is most strongly felt at low pressures where further oxidation of the combustion gas enhances the burning rate by increasing heat release. However, at higher pressures, the burning rate is unaffected by oxygen. The overall flame chemistry has been found to follow 2nd- and 3rd-order rates for the nitrate ester and nitramine propellants, respectively. Emissions by carbon and CN from the combustions indicate that all these flames are fuel-rich with a predominantly RCN-type fuel. A number of flame reactions, with and without oxygen, have been considered to explain the spectra and the burning behavior of the propellants. Nitramine, Flames, Nitrate ester, Flame species, Double base propellant, Flame reactions, Burning rate, Combustion.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 1989
Accession Number
ADA208032

Entities

People

  • Richard Field
  • Thieu H. Vu
  • Yvon Carignan

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Burning Rate
  • Chemical Reaction Properties
  • Chemical Reactions
  • Chemistry
  • Combustion
  • Combustion Chambers
  • Composite Propellants
  • Controlled Atmospheres
  • Double Base Propellants
  • Emission Spectroscopy
  • Equations
  • Exothermic Reactions
  • High Pressure
  • Ignition
  • Propellants
  • Spectra
  • Spectroscopy

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Combustion science or combustion engineering.
  • Rocket Propulsion.