Reactivity of hypergolic hybrid solid fuel with industrial grade hydrogen peroxide

Abstract

Hypergolic solid fuels and hydrogen peroxide oxidizers have attracted considerable attention for the development of safe hybrid rocket propulsion systems. In this study, a new approach was explored to develop a safe hypergolic hybrid propulsion system using industrial-grade hydrogen peroxide (∼70 wt%). Initially, the propulsion performance of different hypergolic solid fuels with an industrial-grade hydrogen peroxide was calculated using the NASA CEA code to find an appropriate propellant combination. The theoretical specific impulse of the hypergolic solid fuel was 27.8 % over hydrazine and 13.4 % over LMP-103S. Based on theoretical investigations, hypergolic solid fuels, named such as HSF-1 to HSF-10, were fabricated using molding and pressing methods. The ignition delay time was measured using the drop-test method. Interestingly, HSF-3 and HSF-4 exhibited very short ignition delay times of 4.92 and 8.75 ms, respectively, with industrial-grade hydrogen peroxide. In addition, the drop test results of hypergolic solid fuel with varying compression pressure in the pressing method confirmed that a pressure above the compressive strength of the binder shortens the ignition delay times deviation. Further, HSF was also ignited even at low concentration of IGHP (>40 wt%); opens the new area of research in combustion science. Overall, low-toxicity hypergolic solid fuels and industrial-grade hydrogen peroxide are promising alternatives to conventional toxic hypergolic propellants.