Abstract
Combustion of mixtures of a narrow fraction of ammonium perchlorate (AP) with hydrocarbon binders and combustion catalysts diethylferrocene and 1,1′-bis(dimethyloctyloxysilyl)ferrocene, as well as nano-sized Fe2O3 is studied. It is shown that the efficiency of ferrocene compounds from the viewpoint of increasing the burning rate depends on the oxidizer/fuel ratio in the propellant and on the place of the leading reaction of combustion. In composites with a high oxidizer/fuel ratio whose combustion follows the gas-phase model, the catalyst efficiency is rather low. In systems with a low oxidizer/fuel ratio where the contribution of condensed-phase reactions to the burning rate of the system is rather large, the catalyst efficiency is noticeably greater, and it is directly related to the possibility of formation of a soot skeleton during combustion. The close values of the catalytic activity of ferrocenes and Fe2O3 in the case of their small concentrations in such compositions testify that the main contribution to the increase in the propellant burning rate is made by Fe2O3 formed due to rapid oxidation of ferrocene on the AP surface and accumulated on the soot skeleton. Thermocouple measurements of propellants with a low oxidizer/fuel ratio are performed, and it is shown that the temperature of their surface is determined by plasticizer evaporation. A phenomenological model of combustion of the examined propellants is proposed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
C. U. Pittman, Jr., “Location of Action of Burning Rate Catalysts in Composite Propellant Combustion,” AIAA J. 7(2), 328–334 (1969).
N. N. Bakhman, V. S. Nikiforov, V. I. Avdyunin, A. E. Fogelzang, and Yu. S. Kichin, “Catalytic Effect of Ferrous Oxide on Burning Rate of Condensed Mixtures,” Combust. Flame 22(1), 77–87 (1974).
K. Kishore and M. R. Sunitha, “Effect of Transition Metal Oxides on Decomposition and Deflagration of Composite Solid Propellants Systems. A Survey,” AIAA J. 17(10), 1118–1125 (1979).
A. P. Glazkova, Catalysis of Combustion of Explosives (Nauka, Moscow, 1976) [in Russian].
D. A. Flanagan, “Combustion Mechanism of High Burning Rate Solid Propellants,” Final Tech. Rep. No. AFRPL-TR-69-1 (1969).
T. T. Nguyen, “The Effects of Ferrocenic and Carborane Derivative Burn Rate Catalysts in AP Composite Propellant Combustion: Mechanism of Ferrocene-Catalysed Combustion,” DSTO Aeronautical and Maritime Research Laboratory Tech. Report, DSTO-TR-0121 (Melbourne, Vic., 1995).
V. P. Sinditskii, A. N. Chernyi, and D. A. Marchenkov, “Mechanism of Combustion Catalysis by Ferrocene Derivatives. 1. Combustion of Ammonium Perchlorate and Ferrocene,” Fiz. Goreniya Vzryva 50(1), 59–68 (2014) [Combust., Expl., Shock Waves 50 (1), 51–59 (2014)].
G. B. Belov, “Thermodynamic Analysis of Combustion Products at High Temperature and Pressure,” Propellants, Explosives, Pyrotechnics 23(2), 86–89 (1998).
C. Guirao and F. A. Williams, “A Model for Ammonium Perchlorate Deflagration between 20 and 100 atm,” AIAA J. 9(7), 1345–1355 (1971).
M. W. Beckstead, R. I. Derr, and C. F. Price, “The Combustion of Solid Monopropellants and Composite Propellants,” in Proc. 13th Symp. (Int.) on Combustion (1971), pp. 1047–1056.
G. B. Manelis and V. A. Strunin, “The Mechanism of Ammonium Perchlorate Burning,” Combust. Flame 17(1), 69–77 (1971).
V. P. Sinditskii, V. Yu. Egorshev, V. V. Serushkin, and S. A. Filatov, “Combustion of Energetic Materials Controlled by Condensed-Phase Reactions,” Fiz. Goreniya Vzryva 48(1), 89–109 (2012) [Combust., Expl., Shock Waves 48 (1), 81–89 (2012)].
V. S. Nikiforov and N. N. Bakhman, “Effect of Oxidizer Particle Size Distribution on Efficiency of Combustion Catalysis,” Fiz. Goreniya Vzryva 8(4), 505–511 (1972) [Combust., Expl., Shock Waves 8 (4), 414–418 (1972)].
V. P. Sinditskii, A. N. Chernyi, and D. A. Marchenkov, “Study of Combustion of Ammonium Perchlorate Based Propellants with a Low Oxidizer/Fuel Ratio,” Khim. Fiz. Mezoskop. 14(4), 519–524 (2012).
M. L. Gross and M. W. Beckstead, “Diffusion Flame Calculations for Composite Propellants Using a Vorticity-Velocity Formulation,” J. Propuls. Power 25(1), 74–82 (2009).
F. Solymosi, S. Börcsök, and E. Lázár, “Catalytic Decomposition of Perchloric Acid in the Vapour Phase,” Combust. Flame 12(4), 398–400 (1968).
F. Solymosi, L. Gera, and S. Börcsök, “Catalytic Pyrolysis of HClO4 and its Relation to the Decomposition and Combustion of NH4ClO4,” Proc. Symp. (Int.) on Combustion 13(1), 1009–1017 (1971).
V. V. Bogdanova, V. F. Komarov, A. I. Lesnikovich, and V. V. Sviridov, “Effect of Structural Features of Individual and Mixed Oxides of Copper and Iron on their Activity in the Reaction of Ignition of the Mixture of Isobutilene and Perchloric Acid,” Fiz. Goreniya Vzryva 10(1), 99–101 (1974) [Combust., Expl., Shock Waves 10 (1), 86–88 (1974)].
L. Ya. Margolis, Oxidation of Hydrocarbons on Heterogeneous Catalysts (Khimiya, Moscow, 1977) [in Russian].
A. P. Denisyuk, A. D. Margolin, N. P. Tokarev, V. G. Khubaev, and L. A. Demidova, “Role of Carbon Black in Combustion of Ballistic Powders with Lead-Containing Catalysts,” Fiz. Goreniya Vzryva 13(4), 576–584 (1977) [Combust., Expl., Shock Waves 13 (4), 490–496 (1977].
A. P. Denisyuk, L. A. Demidova, and V. I. Galkin, “The Primary Zone in the Combustion of Solid Propellants Containing Catalysts,” Fiz. Goreniya Vzryva 31(2), 32–40 (1995) [Combust., Expl., Shock Waves 31 (2), 161–167 (1995)].
A. P. Denisyuk and L. A. Demidova, “Effect of Some Catalysts on Double-Base Propellants,” Fiz. Goreniya Vzryva 40(3), 69–76 (2004) [Combust., Expl., Shock Waves 40 (3), 311–318 (2004)].
G. B. Manelis, G. M. Nazin, Yu. I. Rubtsov, and V. A. Strunin, Thermal Decomposition and Combustion of Explosives and Powders (Nauka, Moscow, 1996) [in Russian].
N. N. Bakhman and A. F. Belyaev, Combustion of Heterogeneous Condensed Systems (Nauka, Moscow, 1967) [in Russian].
V. P. Sinditskii, V. Yu. Egorshev, M. V. Berezin, and V. V. Serushkin, Methods of Studying Combustion of Energetic Materials: Laboratory Practice (Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia, Moscow, 2010) [in Russian].
Y. H. Liang, P. Sh. Ma, and Y. C. Ruan, “Determination of Very Low Vapor Pressure of Five Organic Compounds,” J. Chem. Eng. Chin. Univ. 3, 222–225 (1996).
A. J. Sabadell, J. Wenograd, and M. Summerfield, “Measurement of Temperature Profiles through Solid-Propellant Flames Using Fine Thermocouples,” AIAA J. 3(9), 1580–1584 (1965).
N. N. Bakhman, Yu. S. Kichin, S. M. Kolyasov, and A. E. Fogelzang, “Investigation of the Thermal Structure of the Burning Zone in Condensed Mixtures by Fine Thermocouples,” Combust. Flame 26, 235-247 (1976).
S. Krishnan and R. D. Swami, “Effect of Catalyst Addition on Subatmospheric Burning Surface Temperature of Composite Propellants,” J. Propuls. Power 14(3), 295–300 (1998).
N. Kubota, “Combustion Wave Structures of Ammonium Perchlorate Composite Propellants,” J. Propuls. Power 2(4), 296–300 (1984).
P. F. Pokhil and L. D. Romadanova, “Study of the Burning Surface Structure of Model Composite Solid Propellants,” Zh. Fiz. Khim. 39, 294 (1965).
A. Vorozhtsov, V. Archipov, S. Bondarchuk, et al., “Ballistic Characteristics of Solid Propellants Containing Dual Oxidizer,” in Proc. 1st Europ. Conf. Aerospace Sci., Moscow, Russia, Sept. 14–18, 2005, pp. 1–8.
V. P. Sinditskii, V. Yu. Egorshev, D. Tomasi, and L. T. DeLuca, “Combustion Mechanism of AN-Based Propellants,” J. Propuls. Power 24(5), 1068–1077 (2008).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © V.P. Sinditskii, A.N. Chernyi, D.A. Marchenkov.
__________
Published in Fizika Goreniya i Vzryva, Vol. 50, No. 2, pp. 40–50, March–April, 2014.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sinditskii, V.P., Chernyi, A.N. & Marchenkov, D.A. Mechanism of combustion catalysis by ferrocene derivatives. 2. Combustion of ammonium perchlorate-Based propellants with ferrocene derivatives. Combust Explos Shock Waves 50, 158–167 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0010508214020063
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0010508214020063