Burning Characteristics of Ammonium Nitrate-based Composite Propellants Supplemented with Ammonium Dichromate

Ammonium nitrate (AN)-based composite propellants have attracted much attention, primarily because of the clean burning nature of AN as an oxidizer. However. such propellants have some disadvantages such as poor ignition and low burning rate. Ammonium dichromate (ADC) is used as a burning catalyst for AN-based propellants however, the effect of ADC on the burning characteristics has vet to be sufficiently delineated. The burning characteristics of AN/ADC propellants prepared with various contents of AN and ADC have been investigated in this study. The theoretical performance of an AN-based propellant is improved by the addition of ADC. The increase in the burning rate is enhanced and the pressure deflagration limit (PDL) becomes lower with increasing amount of ADC added. The increasing ratio of the burning rate with respect to the amount of ADC is independent of the AN content and the combustion pressure. The optimal amount of ADC for improving the burning characteristics has been determined.