Thermal and Kinetic Studies of Ammonium Nitrate and the Effect of Addition of Potassium Nitrate Employing Simultaneous Thermal Analysis Technique
Ammonium Nitrate (AN) is a well-known oxidizer being used in the field of composite solid propellants but presently its use is very limited because of certain inherent limitations. One of its main limitations pertains to phase transformations associated with subsequent volume change. The volume change can cause cracks in the propellant which ultimately results in the explosion of the rocket motor. This paper deals with the thermal and kinetic studies of ammonium nitrate and the effect of adding various percentages of potassium nitrate using simultaneous thermal analysis. Ammonium Nitrate undergoes a phase change near 56 ℃ which falls within the thermal stability limit of propellants and the research work was focused on shifting this phase change. It was found that the addition of 0.25 percent of potassium nitrate shifts the phase transformation at 56℃to 90℃. The experiments with higher percentages of potassium nitrate revealed that the phase change is partially shifted. The upshot of the present work is that 0.25 percent addition of potassium nitrate in ammonium nitrate based composite propellants renders them suitable for storage at -40 ℃to+70℃ for subsequent safe functioning of the motor on firing.
ZAHEER-U-DIN Babar MALIK A.Q.
School of Chemical and Materials Engineering (SCME)National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST),Pakistan
国际会议
2011 International Autumn Seminar on Propellants,Explosives and Pyrotechnics(2011国际推进剂、炸药、烟火技术秋季研讨会)
南京
英文
227-233
2011-09-20（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）