Production and Coating of Pure Boron Powders

Abstract

Boron is an attractive fuel because of its potential energy release with oxygen and because of its lightweight. It is, however, difficult to incorporate into a fuel system because an oxide layer forms on the surface and suppresses combustion. A new synthesis process has been evaluated for the preparation of boron fuel particles coated with titanium. The titanium coating prevents oxide from forming and aids in the combustion. Pure boron particles are produced by reaction of sodium with boron trichloride, the products expanded through a supersonic nozzle, in which titanium tetrachloride is added to produce titanium. The titanium coats the boron particle. The coated particles are separated from the gaseous sodium chloride by a new type supersonic virtual impact collector. The process has been analyzed by computer modeling and an apparatus has been designed to test the concept and prepare coated boron fuel particles for evaluation. (aw)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 30, 1990
Accession Number
ADA220272

Entities

People

  • Charles H. Berman
  • Hartwell F. Calcote
  • Robert J. Gill
  • William Felder

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accumulators
  • Alkali Metals
  • Boundary Layer
  • Chemical Reactions
  • Combustion
  • Exothermic Reactions
  • Fluid Mechanics
  • Gas Flow
  • Heat Transfer
  • Ignition
  • Metals
  • Particles
  • Rocket Engines
  • Sodium Compounds
  • Supersonic Nozzles
  • Thermal Conductivity
  • Thermodynamics

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Metallurgy
  • Rocket Propulsion.

Technology Areas

  • Hypersonics