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GRAIN DESIGNS
HYBRID ROCKETS
Solid Fuel, Liquid Oxidizer Example
Part 1
SOLID GRAIN
NUCLEAR THERMAL
FUEL
NUCLEAR REACTOR
LIQUID PROPELLANTS
MONOPROPELLANTS :
Hydrazine,
Hydrogen peroxyde
BIPROPELLANTS :
FUELS : OXIDIZERS : Liquid oxygen,
Kerosine, ethanol
Liquid hydrogen,
N2O4,
HYBRID PROPELLANTS
liquid propellant : oxidizer - solid propellant : fuel (solid oxidizers are problematic and lower performing than liquid oxidizers) oxidizers : gaseous or liquid oxygen nitrous oxide. fuels : polymers (e.g.polyethylene), cross-linked rubber (e.g.HTPB), liquefying fuels (e.g. paraffin).
Solid fuels (HTPB or paraffin) allow for the incorporation of highenergy fuel additives (e.g.aluminium).
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
BIPROPELLANTS
Dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) : H2N N (CH3)2 (l)+ 2 N2O4 (l) - > 3 N2 (g) + 4 H2O (g) + 2 CO2 (g) Hydrazine hydrate (N2H4,H2O) : 2 (N2H4,H2O) (l) + N2O4 (l) - > 3 N2 (g) + 6 H2O (g) Monomethylhydrazine (MMH) : 4 H2N NHCH3 (l) + 5 N2O4 (l) - > 9 N2 (g) + 12 H2O (g) + 4 CO2 (g) Kerosene (CH2 is the approximate formula ) with hydrogen peroxide : CH2 + 3H2O2 CO2 + 4H2O Kerosene and liquid oxygen (LOX) CH2 + 1.5O2 CO2 + H2O Hydrogen and oxygen (liquids) : 2 H2 (g)+ O2 (g) - > 2 H2O (g) MONOPROPELLANTS Hydrogen peroxyde (H2O2) H2O2 (l) - > H2O (l) + 1/2 O2 (g) Hydrazine (N2H4) N2H4 (l) - > N2 (g) + 2 H2 (g)
Hybrid rocket
A hybrid rocket is a rocket with a rocket motor which uses propellants in two different states of matter - one solid and the other either gas or liquid
Common oxidizers include gaseous or liquid oxygen or nitrous oxide.
Common fuels include polymers such as polyethylene, cross-linked rubber such as HTPB or liquefying fuels such as paraffin wax.
Less explosion hazard - Propellant grain more tolerant of processing errors such as cracks. More controllable - Start/stop/restart and throttling are all achievable with appropriate oxidize control Safe and non-toxic oxidizers such as liquid oxygen and nitrous oxide can be used Can be transported to site in a benign form and loaded with oxidizer remotely immediately before launch, improving safety.