Prediction of Burning Characteristics of Dihydroxyglyoxime Composite Propellant

Abstract

An optimized engine start procedure is critical to the successful operation of a liquid rocket engine in launch vehicles. A solid propellant gas generator is widely adopted for the turbine starter during engine startup, and ammonium nitrate and ammonium perchlorate propellants are conventionally used for this purpose. However, these propellants have shortcomings such as high flame temperature, corrosive combustion residues, and low ignitability. In this study, a dihydroxyglyoxime (DHG)-based propellant was applied to turbine starters. The burning rate, characteristic velocity, and combustion temperature of the DHG propellant were evaluated using motor tests. The DHG-based propellant burned 3–11% slower in motor firing tests than that in strand burner tests, and an inversely proportional relationship was observed between the strand burn rate and the burning rate factor (ratio between motor burning rate measurement and strand burner prediction). The temperature sensitivity of the burning rate factor was found to be 0.23–0.24%/°C, and the pressure sensitivity of the characteristic velocity was 0.48–0.50%/MPa. These burning characteristics of the DHG-based propellant from static evaluations provide the evolution of the chamber pressure and the mass flow rate versus the time of the motor using internal ballistic analysis.