Performance evaluation of commercial copper chromites as burning rate catalyst for solid propellants

Campos, Eunice Aparecida; Dutra, Rita de Cássia L.; Rezende, Luis Cláudio; Diniz, Milton Faria; Nawa, Wilma Massae Dio; Iha, Koshun

doi:10.5028/jatm.2010.02038010

Abstract:

Copper chromites are well known as burning rate catalysts for the combustion of composite solid propellants, used as a source of energy for rocket propulsion. The propellant burning rate depends upon the catalyst characteristics such as chemical composition and specific surface area. In this work, copper chromite samples from different suppliers were characterized by chemical analysis, FT-IR spectroscopy and by surface area measurement (BET). The samples were then evaluated as burning rate catalyst in a typical composite propellant formulation based on HTPB binder, ammonium perchlorate and aluminum. The obtained surface area values are very close to those informed by the catalyst suppliers. The propellant processing as well as its mechanical properties were not substantially affected by the type of catalyst. Some copper chromite catalysts caused an increase in the propellant burning rate in comparison to the iron oxide catalyst. The results show that in addition to the surface area, other parameters like chemical composition, crystalline structure and the presence of impurities might be affecting the catalyst performance. All evaluated copper chromite samples may be used as burning rate catalyst in composite solid propellant formulations, with slight advantages for the SX14, Cu-0202P and Cu-1800P samples, which led to the highest burning rate propellants.

Keywords:
Copper chromite; Composite propellant; BET; Burning rate catalyst

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REFERENCES

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» https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00751084
Burnside, C. H., 1975, "Correlation of ferric oxide surface area and propellant burning rate". Technical Report - AIAA Paper 75-234", AIAA, Pasadena, CA, USA.
Campos, E.A. et al., 2003, "Aplicação de Técnicas FT-IR na caracterização de catalisador cromito de cobre utilizado na indústria aeroespacial" Anais da Associação Brasileira de Química, Vol. 52, N 1, pp.22-25.
Campos, E.A., 2004, "Caracterização e avaliação de propriedades de cromito de cobre como catalisador de queima para propelentes sólidos". Thesis. Instituto Tecnológico da Aeronáutica, São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil, 170 p.
Carvalheira, P., Gadiot, G.M.H.J.L. and Klerk, W.P.C., 1995, "Thermal decomposition of phase-stabilised ammonium nitrate (PSAN), hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) based propellants. The effect of iron (III) oxide burning-rate catalyst" Thermochimica Acta, Vol. 269-270, pp. 273-293.
Carvalho, M.F.A., Feitosa, S. and Rangel, M.C., 2000, "Influência da temperatura de calcinação sobre as propriedades catalíticas de cromitos de cobre", 23ª Reunião Anual da Sociedade Brasileira de Química, Poços de Caldas, MG, Brazil.
Davenas, A., 2003, "Development of modern solid propellant". Journal of Propulsion and Power, Vol.19, N 6, pp. 1108-1128.
Engen, T. K., Johannessen, T.C., 1990, "The effects of two types of iron oxide on the burning rate of a composite propellant", Proceeding of the 21st International Annual Conference of Technology of Polymer Compounds and Energetic Materials", Karlsruhe, Germany, pp. 81.1-81.12.
Faillace, J.G., 2001, "Cromito de cobre II: Síntese, Caracterização e Propriedades", Thesis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 60 p.
Furman, N.H., 1996, "Standard Methods of Chemical Analysis", Van Nostrand Company Inc., Princeton, New Jersey, USA, Sixth Edition, Vol. 1, pp. 402-403.
Jones, H.E., Strahle, W.C., 1973, "Effects of copper chromite and iron oxides catalysts on AP/CTPB sandwiches", Proceedings of the 14^th International Symposium on Combustion.
Kawamoto, A.M. et al., 2004, "Copper Chromite as catalyst for composite solid propellant" Proceedings of the 35th International Annual Conference of Technology of Polymer Compounds and Energetic Materials, Karlsruhe, Germany, pp. 56.1-56.13.
Kishore, K., Sunitha, M.R., 1979, "Effect of transition metal oxides on decomposition and deflagration of composite solid propellant systems: a survey", AIAA Journal, Vol.17, N10, pp.1118-1125.
Kishore, K., Verneker, P. and Sunitha, M.R., 1980, "Action of Transition Metal Oxides on Composite Solid Propellants", AIAA Journal, Vol. 18, N11,pp. 1404-1405.
Kubota, N., 2007, "Propellants and explosives: thermochemical aspects of combustion, " Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co.KGaA, Weinheim, Germany.
Li, W., Cheng, H., 2007, "Cu-Cr-O nanocomposites: Synthesis and characterization as catalysts for solid state propellants", Solid State Sciences, Vol. 9, N 8, pp. 750-755.
Ma, Z., Li, F., 2006, "Preparation and thermal decomposition behavior of TMO_S/AP composite nanoparticles", Nanocience, Vol. 11, Nº 2, pp. 142-145.
Miller, F.A., Wilkins, C.H., 1952, "Infrared Spectra and Characteristic frequencies of inorganic ions" Anal. Chem, Washington, Vol. 24, pp. 1253-1294.
Pekel, F.E. et al., 1990, "An investigation of the Catalytic Effect of Iron (III) Oxide on the Burning rate of Aluminized HTPB/AP Composite Propellant", Proceedings of the 21st International Annual Conference of Technology of Polymer Compounds and Energetic Materials, Karlsruhe, Germany, pp.1-8.
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Rajeev, R. et al., 1995, "Thermal decomposition studies. Part 19. Kinetics and mechanism of thermal decomposition of copper ammonium chromate precursor to copper chromite catalyst and correlation of surface parameters of the catalyst with propellant burning rate", Thermochimica Acta, Vol. 254, pp. 235-247.
Rastogi, R.P. et al., 1980, "Solid state chemistry of copper chromite used as a catalyst for the burning of ammonium perchlorate/polystyrene propellants", Journal of Catalysis, Vol. 65, N 1, pp. 25-30.
Rezende, M.C. et al., 2002, "Efeito da concentração do catalisador acetilacetonato férrico na cura de poliuretano à base de polibutadieno líquido hidroxilado (pblh) e diisocianato de isoforona (IPDI)", Química Nova, Vol. 25. N 2, pp. 221-225. doi: 10.1590/S0100-40422002000200009
» https://doi.org/10.1590/S0100-40422002000200009
Sciamareli, J., Takahashi, M.F.K. and Teixeira, J.M., 2002, "Propelente sólido compósito polibutadiênico: I-influência do agente de ligação", Química Nova, Vol. 25, N 1, pp. 107-110.
Shadman-Yazdi, F., Petersen, E.E., 1972, "The effect of catalysts on the deflagration limits of ammonium perchlorate", Combustion Science and Technology, Vol. 5, N 1, pp. 61-67. doi: 10.1080/00102207208952504
» https://doi.org/10.1080/00102207208952504
Singh, G., 1978, "Burnning rate modifiers for composite solid propellants", Journal of Scientific Industrial Research, Vol. 37, N 2, pp. 79-85.
Tagliaferro, F.S. et al., 2006, "INAA for the validation of chromium and copper determination in copper chromite by infrared spectrometry", Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 269, N 2, pp. 403-406.
Webb, P.A., 2003, "Introdution to chemical adsorption analytical techniques and their applications to catalysis", Micromeritics Instrument Corp., Norcross, Georgia 30093.

Publication Dates

Publication in this collection
Sep-Dec 2010

History

Received
30 June 2010
Accepted
26 July 2010

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

[1] Benmahamed, M.A et al., 2002, "Effect of Copper Chromite Particle Size on the Combustion process of a Plastisol Propellant. Part II: Combustion laws by Crawford", Proceeding of the 33rd International Annual Conference of ICT, Karlsruhe, Germany, pp. 124-1_124-9

[2] Boldyreva, A.V. et al., 1975, "Effects of spinels on the pyrolysis and combustion rates for ammonium perchlorate mixtures", Combustion Explosives and Shock Waves,Vol.11, N 5, pp.611-613. doi:10.1007/BF00751084
» https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00751084

[3] Burnside, C. H., 1975, "Correlation of ferric oxide surface area and propellant burning rate". Technical Report - AIAA Paper 75-234", AIAA, Pasadena, CA, USA.

[4] Campos, E.A. et al., 2003, "Aplicação de Técnicas FT-IR na caracterização de catalisador cromito de cobre utilizado na indústria aeroespacial" Anais da Associação Brasileira de Química, Vol. 52, N 1, pp.22-25.

[5] Campos, E.A., 2004, "Caracterização e avaliação de propriedades de cromito de cobre como catalisador de queima para propelentes sólidos". Thesis. Instituto Tecnológico da Aeronáutica, São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil, 170 p.

[6] Carvalheira, P., Gadiot, G.M.H.J.L. and Klerk, W.P.C., 1995, "Thermal decomposition of phase-stabilised ammonium nitrate (PSAN), hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) based propellants. The effect of iron (III) oxide burning-rate catalyst" Thermochimica Acta, Vol. 269-270, pp. 273-293.

[7] Carvalho, M.F.A., Feitosa, S. and Rangel, M.C., 2000, "Influência da temperatura de calcinação sobre as propriedades catalíticas de cromitos de cobre", 23ª Reunião Anual da Sociedade Brasileira de Química, Poços de Caldas, MG, Brazil.

[8] Davenas, A., 2003, "Development of modern solid propellant". Journal of Propulsion and Power, Vol.19, N 6, pp. 1108-1128.

[9] Engen, T. K., Johannessen, T.C., 1990, "The effects of two types of iron oxide on the burning rate of a composite propellant", Proceeding of the 21st International Annual Conference of Technology of Polymer Compounds and Energetic Materials", Karlsruhe, Germany, pp. 81.1-81.12.

[10] Faillace, J.G., 2001, "Cromito de cobre II: Síntese, Caracterização e Propriedades", Thesis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 60 p.

[11] Furman, N.H., 1996, "Standard Methods of Chemical Analysis", Van Nostrand Company Inc., Princeton, New Jersey, USA, Sixth Edition, Vol. 1, pp. 402-403.

[12] Jones, H.E., Strahle, W.C., 1973, "Effects of copper chromite and iron oxides catalysts on AP/CTPB sandwiches", Proceedings of the 14^th International Symposium on Combustion.

[13] Kawamoto, A.M. et al., 2004, "Copper Chromite as catalyst for composite solid propellant" Proceedings of the 35th International Annual Conference of Technology of Polymer Compounds and Energetic Materials, Karlsruhe, Germany, pp. 56.1-56.13.

[14] Kishore, K., Sunitha, M.R., 1979, "Effect of transition metal oxides on decomposition and deflagration of composite solid propellant systems: a survey", AIAA Journal, Vol.17, N10, pp.1118-1125.

[15] Kishore, K., Verneker, P. and Sunitha, M.R., 1980, "Action of Transition Metal Oxides on Composite Solid Propellants", AIAA Journal, Vol. 18, N11,pp. 1404-1405.

[16] Kubota, N., 2007, "Propellants and explosives: thermochemical aspects of combustion, " Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co.KGaA, Weinheim, Germany.

[17] Li, W., Cheng, H., 2007, "Cu-Cr-O nanocomposites: Synthesis and characterization as catalysts for solid state propellants", Solid State Sciences, Vol. 9, N 8, pp. 750-755.

[18] Ma, Z., Li, F., 2006, "Preparation and thermal decomposition behavior of TMO_S/AP composite nanoparticles", Nanocience, Vol. 11, Nº 2, pp. 142-145.

[19] Miller, F.A., Wilkins, C.H., 1952, "Infrared Spectra and Characteristic frequencies of inorganic ions" Anal. Chem, Washington, Vol. 24, pp. 1253-1294.

[20] Pekel, F.E. et al., 1990, "An investigation of the Catalytic Effect of Iron (III) Oxide on the Burning rate of Aluminized HTPB/AP Composite Propellant", Proceedings of the 21st International Annual Conference of Technology of Polymer Compounds and Energetic Materials, Karlsruhe, Germany, pp.1-8.

[21] Prasad, R., 2005, "Highly active copper chromite catalyst produced by thermal decomposition of ammoniac copper oxalate chromate" Materials Letters, Vol. 59, N 29-30, pp. 3945-3949.

[22] Prajakta, R.P., Krishnamurthy, V.N., Satyawati, S.J., 2006, "Differential Scanning Calorimetric Study of HTPB based Composite Propellants in Presence of Nano Ferric Oxide", Propellants Explosives, Pyrotechnics Vol. 31, N 6, pp. 442-446.

[23] Rajeev, R. et al., 1995, "Thermal decomposition studies. Part 19. Kinetics and mechanism of thermal decomposition of copper ammonium chromate precursor to copper chromite catalyst and correlation of surface parameters of the catalyst with propellant burning rate", Thermochimica Acta, Vol. 254, pp. 235-247.

[24] Rastogi, R.P. et al., 1980, "Solid state chemistry of copper chromite used as a catalyst for the burning of ammonium perchlorate/polystyrene propellants", Journal of Catalysis, Vol. 65, N 1, pp. 25-30.

[25] Rezende, M.C. et al., 2002, "Efeito da concentração do catalisador acetilacetonato férrico na cura de poliuretano à base de polibutadieno líquido hidroxilado (pblh) e diisocianato de isoforona (IPDI)", Química Nova, Vol. 25. N 2, pp. 221-225. doi: 10.1590/S0100-40422002000200009
» https://doi.org/10.1590/S0100-40422002000200009

[26] Sciamareli, J., Takahashi, M.F.K. and Teixeira, J.M., 2002, "Propelente sólido compósito polibutadiênico: I-influência do agente de ligação", Química Nova, Vol. 25, N 1, pp. 107-110.

[27] Shadman-Yazdi, F., Petersen, E.E., 1972, "The effect of catalysts on the deflagration limits of ammonium perchlorate", Combustion Science and Technology, Vol. 5, N 1, pp. 61-67. doi: 10.1080/00102207208952504
» https://doi.org/10.1080/00102207208952504

[28] Singh, G., 1978, "Burnning rate modifiers for composite solid propellants", Journal of Scientific Industrial Research, Vol. 37, N 2, pp. 79-85.

[29] Tagliaferro, F.S. et al., 2006, "INAA for the validation of chromium and copper determination in copper chromite by infrared spectrometry", Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 269, N 2, pp. 403-406.

[30] Webb, P.A., 2003, "Introdution to chemical adsorption analytical techniques and their applications to catalysis", Micromeritics Instrument Corp., Norcross, Georgia 30093.

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