Burning Rates of HAN and HAN-Methanol at High Pressures
Open Access
Author:
Bugay, Ezekiel
Area of Honors:
Mechanical Engineering
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Richard A Yetter, Thesis Supervisor Jean-Michel Mongeau, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Combustion Propulsion Rocket Propulsion Propellant Monopropellant HAN Burning Rate Burn Rate Pressure High Pressure
Abstract:
A unique optical strand burner with very high-pressure capabilities was utilized to observe combustion behavior of 13M HAN and HAN-methanol solutions at constant pressures up to 70 MPa. These solutions were placed in respective 10.6 mm ID tubes and then ignited in the pressurized strand burner. High-speed videos of the sample were analyzed to derive a burning rate, which was plotted and then a predicting equation developed. After pressures of 30 MPa and until 70 MPa, it was found that both HAN-water and HAN-methanol propellants decreased in burn rate. Further, it was also determined that given the similarities in the results between the two propellants, HAN is likely the dominant component that governs the burn rate in this pressure regime. Unlike HAN-water, HAN-methanol exhibited a wide variety of flame behaviors across the tested pressures. The mechanisms of these behaviors are not yet known. It should be noted that the scope of this research was limited by the COVID-19 pandemic, and as such the data is not as great in quantity as it could have been otherwise.
