ATOMIZATION AND MIXING OF BLENDED ENERGETIC IONIC LIQUID HYDROXYETHYLHYDRAZINIUM NITRATE

Abstract

Hypergolic propellants are widely used in liquid rocket propulsion. Instantaneous control of combustion, lack of requirement of an ignition system, and storability for long durations are the major advantages of hypergolic propellants. The propellant community is on the lookout for replacements for the currently utilized toxic hydrazine and its derivatives. Energetic hypergolic ionic liquids are excellent candidates for such replacement. However, their high viscosity and surface tension render atomization difficult, and hence, increase the ignition delays in the combustion chamber and reduce combustion efficiency. The current study focuses on the geometrical aspects of injector design and other injection conditions that control the ignition process and combustion efficiency. These mainly depend on the extent of mixing and atomization. Shadowgraphy and patternator-based experiments were performed on doublet and triplet impingement injectors under variable injection conditions, such as impingement angle, jet diameters, and injection velocities. A blend of 50% unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine in the energetic ionic liquid hydroxyethylhydrazinium nitrate (UHN50) shows promise as a candidate for a hydrazine replacement. A blend of 38% ethanol in glycerol (GE6238) was used as a surrogate for UHN50, whereas water was used as a surrogate for nitrogen tetroxide. The effect of variation of injection conditions was found to be contradictory for achieving atomization and mixing. An optimum criterion was obtained for both atomization and mixing.