Combustion characteristics of lithium perchlorate-based electrically controlled solid propellants at elevated pressures

Gnanaprakash, Kanagaraj (2023) Combustion characteristics of lithium perchlorate-based electrically controlled solid propellants at elevated pressures. Thermochimica Acta, 720. p. 179421. ISSN 0040-6031

Text
the_act_720-179421.pdf - Published Version
Download (4MB)

Abstract

Electrically controlled solid propellants (ECSPs) exhibit specific combustion characteristics that offer multiple start/stop operations and variable combustion rates at different electrical power. The present study investigates ignition and pyroelectric combustion characteristics of ECSPs, based on lithium perchlorate (LP) oxidizer and poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) binder, in the elevated pressure range of 0.1 to 2.0 MPa, and to further understand the performance of tungsten (W) as a metal additive. Experiments are conducted for metallized ECSPs with 5% (M5), 10% (M10) and 15% (M15) W content, relative to the non-metallized case. Ignition delay time (Tign) for the baseline (M0) decreased substantially from 633 ms at 0.1 MPa to 178 ms at 2.0 MPa pressure. A similar decreasing trend for the minimum electrical energy required for ignition was also observed with increase in pressure. Addition of W decreased Tign and electrical ignition energy significantly by 33% and 66% respectively, for M15 relative to M0. Furthermore, thermochemical equilibrium analysis indicated that the adiabatic combustion temperature and specific impulse decreased with increase in W content due to increased fuel-rich stoichiometry. Overall, the metal addition significantly enhanced the combustion rates at all pressure range below 2.0 MPa. It is anticipated that the observed characteristics at elevated pressures provide insights into the design of electrically-controlled operations for future propulsion systems.

[error in script]

IITH Creators:

IITH Creators	ORCiD
Gnanaprakash, Kanagaraj	http://www.orcid.org/0000-0002-7607-4554

Item Type:

Article

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Electrically controlled solid propellants; Ignition delay time; Lithium perchlorate; Multi-wavelength pyrometry; Pyroelectric combustion; Combustion characteristics; Combustion rate; Electrical power; Electrically controled solid propellant; Elevated pressure; Ignition delay time; Multi-wavelength pyrometry; Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA); Pressure ranges; Pyroelectric combustion; Ignition; Inorganic compounds; Metallizing; Solid propellants; Lithium compounds

Subjects:

Physics > Mechanical and aerospace
Physics

Divisions:

Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

Depositing User:

Mr Nigam Prasad Bisoyi

Date Deposited:

22 Aug 2023 05:40

Last Modified:

22 Aug 2023 05:40

URI:

http://raiithold.iith.ac.in/id/eprint/11600