Experimental Study of Polyurethane-Based Fuels with Addition of Paraffin and Aluminum for Hybrid Rocket Motors

Gomes, Susane Ribeiro; Rocco Junior, Leopoldo; Rocco, José Atílio Fritz Fidel; Iha, Koshun

doi:10.5028/jatm.v5i3.228

ABSTRACT:

Experimental investigation was conducted to determine the relative propulsive and combustion behavior of several polyurethane-based solid-fuel formulations containing 30% w/w of paraffin or 10% of aluminum powder. In total, seven solid-fuel formulations were investigated, four containing 30% of paraffin and three with 10% of aluminum. The polyurethane was synthesized with pre-polymer technology. The oxidizer was gaseous oxygen, which was forced into the combustion chamber with axial and swirl methods. Firing tests with 7 configurations were performed. Thrust measurements indicated that the addition of paraffin increased thrust at about 57% and regression rates at about 70%. No relevant improvement in performance was obtained with aluminum addition. Specific impulse decreased when aluminum particles were added to the fuel. The mixture that produced the best ballistic parameters was polyurethane plasticized with castor oil and 30% w/w of paraffin with gaseous oxygen injected through a swirler.

KEYWORDS:
Hybrid rocket motor; Aerospace propulsion; Rocket motors

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REFERENCES

Altman, D., 2001, Rocket motors, hybrid. In Meyers, R.A. (Ed.), “Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology” (3rd ed., Vol. 14, pp. 303-321), Elsevier Science Ltd.
Altman, D. and Holzman, A., 2007, Overview and history of hybrid rocket propulsion, Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics Series (1st ed., Vol. 218, p. 650). AIAA.
Altman, D. and Humble, R., 1995, “Hybrid Rocket Propulsion Systems”, Space Propulsion Analysis and Design”, in R. Humble, G. Henry, W. Larson (Eds.). McGraw-Hill, New York, pp. 365-441.
Boardman, T.A., 2001, “Rocket Propulsion Elements”, In G.P. Sutton, John Wiley & Sons.
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Karabeyoglu, M.A., Cantwell, B.J. and Altman, D., 2001, “Development and Testing of Paraffn-Based Hybrid Rocket Fuels”, in Proceedings of the 37th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit, July 2001, AIAA Paper 2001-4503.
Knuth, W.H., Chiaverini, M.J., Gramer, D.J. and Sauer, J.A., 1998, “Experimental Investigation of a Vortex-Driven High-Regression Rate Hybrid Rocket Engine”, 34th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit. AIAA.
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Publication Dates

Publication in this collection
Jul-Sep 2013

History

Received
21 Jan 2013
Accepted
19 June 2013

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

[1] Altman, D., 2001, Rocket motors, hybrid. In Meyers, R.A. (Ed.), “Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology” (3rd ed., Vol. 14, pp. 303-321), Elsevier Science Ltd.

[2] Altman, D. and Holzman, A., 2007, Overview and history of hybrid rocket propulsion, Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics Series (1st ed., Vol. 218, p. 650). AIAA.

[3] Altman, D. and Humble, R., 1995, “Hybrid Rocket Propulsion Systems”, Space Propulsion Analysis and Design”, in R. Humble, G. Henry, W. Larson (Eds.). McGraw-Hill, New York, pp. 365-441.

[4] Boardman, T.A., 2001, “Rocket Propulsion Elements”, In G.P. Sutton, John Wiley & Sons.

[5] Carmicino, C. and Russo Sorge, A., 2005, “Role of injection in hybrid rockets regression rate behavior”, Journal of Propulsion and Power, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 606-612.

[6] Carmicino, C. and Russo Sorge, A., 2007, “Performance comparison between two different injector configurations in a hybrid rocket”, Aerospace Science and Technology, pp. 61-67.

[7] Chiaverini, M., 2007, Review of solid-fuel regression rate behavior in classical and nonclassical hybrid rocket motors, in M.J. Chiaverini, K. K. Kuo (Eds.), “Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics” (1st ed., Vol. 218, pp. 37-126), American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

[8] Chiaverini, M., Serin, N., Johnson, D., Lu, Y.C., Kuo, K. and Risha, G., 2000, “Regression rate behavior of hybrid rocket solid fuels”, Journal of Propulsion and Power , Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 125-132.

[9] Evans, B., Boyer, E., Kuo, K. K. and Risha, G., 2009, “Hybrid Rocket Investigations at Penn State University’s High Pressure Combustion Laboratory: Overview and Recent Results”, 45th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit, AIAA Paper 2009-5349, Denver, Colorado, 2009.

[10] Geisler, R.L., Frederick Jr, R.A. and Giarra, M., 2010, Historical overview and solid rocket motor fundamentals, in R. Blockley, W. Shyy (Eds.), “Encyclopedia of Aerospace Engineering” (Vol. 9), John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. All rights reserved.

[11] Karabeyoglu, M.A. and Cantwell, B.J., 2002, “Combustion of liquefying hybrid propellants: part 2, Stability of liquid films”, Journal of Propulsion and Power , Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 621-630.

[12] Karabeyoglu, M.A., Cantwell, B.J. and Altman, D., 2001, “Development and Testing of Paraffn-Based Hybrid Rocket Fuels”, in Proceedings of the 37th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit, July 2001, AIAA Paper 2001-4503.

[13] Knuth, W.H., Chiaverini, M.J., Gramer, D.J. and Sauer, J.A., 1998, “Experimental Investigation of a Vortex-Driven High-Regression Rate Hybrid Rocket Engine”, 34th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit. AIAA.

[14] Risha, G.A., Evans, B.J., Boyer, E. and Kuo, K.K., 2007, Metals, energetic additives, and special binders used in solid fuels for hybrid rockets, in M. J. Chiaverini and K. K. Kuo (Eds.), “Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics” (1st ed., Vol. 218, pp. 413456), American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc.

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