Effects of Ammonium Perchlorate and CL-20 on Agglomeration Characteristics of Solid High-Energy Propellants

Xiang Lv, Rong Ma, Yuxin An, Zhimin Fan, Dongliang Gou, Peijin Liu and Wen Ao ()
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Xiang Lv: Science and Technology on Combustion, Internal Flow and Thermo-Structure Laboratory, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China
Rong Ma: Science and Technology on Combustion, Internal Flow and Thermo-Structure Laboratory, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China
Yuxin An: Science and Technology on Combustion, Internal Flow and Thermo-Structure Laboratory, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China
Zhimin Fan: Science and Technology on Combustion, Internal Flow and Thermo-Structure Laboratory, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China
Dongliang Gou: Science and Technology on Combustion, Internal Flow and Thermo-Structure Laboratory, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China
Peijin Liu: Science and Technology on Combustion, Internal Flow and Thermo-Structure Laboratory, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China
Wen Ao: Science and Technology on Combustion, Internal Flow and Thermo-Structure Laboratory, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 20, 1-13

Abstract: Energy density, which is an important indicator of the performance of solid propellants, is known to increase with the addition of 2,4,6,8,10,12-hexanitro-2,4,6,8,10,12-hexaazaisowurtzitane (CL-20). However, it remains unclear how CL-20 affects the decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP) and energy release. Here, the effects of CL-20 on the combustion performance and agglomeration of propellants were investigated. The addition of CL-20 decreased AP decomposition temperature and the energy required for the transformation of AP crystals from orthorhombic to cubic. The burning rate and pressure exponent of the propellant with 42% CL-20 were significantly higher than those of the propellant containing 20% CL-20. Thus, adding CL-20 to the propellant improves the energy characteristics and burning rate and the pressure exponent increases. At low combustion chamber pressure, the agglomeration of the propellant containing a high content of CL-20 will be blown away from the combustion surface only after staying on that surface for a short time. In this process, the probability of volume growth of the agglomeration after merging with other agglomerations greatly decreases, thus reducing the overall agglomerate particle sizes; further, the addition of a small amount of CL-20 to the propellant may lead to a reduction in agglomerate particle sizes. AP with a smaller particle size weakens the agglomeration in the combustion process and decreases the number of agglomerates with large particle sizes. These findings lay the foundation for the development of novel high-energy propellants.

Keywords: agglomeration; combustion; CL-20; condensed combustion products; solid propellant (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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