Study on thermal oxidation and combustion of aluminum ultrafine powder in high-energy material

Abstract

Aluminum is a promising metal fuel for solid propellants due to the high heat of combustion and propulsion specific impulse values. In current study the results of aluminum-containing high-energy material oxidation and combustion processes were received by means of the thermogravimetry and a constant pressure bomb. Ammonium perchlorate-based high-energy materials with aluminium powder with different particles size and genesis (produced by methods of electrical explosion of wire is ultrafine Alex and spraying is micron ASD) were studied. The oxidation process mechanism and activation energy were obtained using Freidman and Kissinger methods. It was found that the average activation energy values for tested HEM samples were in the range of 120–160 kJ/mole and the burning rate for HEM sample with Alex was 2.5–3.0 times higher than HEM sample with ASD-1.