Hypergolic propellant

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The attendant wears a full hazmat suit due to the hazards of the hypergolic fuel hydrazine, here being loaded onto the MESSENGER space probe

A hypergolic propellant is a rocket propellant combination used in a rocket engine, whose components spontaneously ignite when they come into contact with each other.

The two propellant components usually consist of a

corrosiveness
.

In contemporary usage, the terms "hypergol" and "hypergolic propellant" usually mean the most common such propellant combination: dinitrogen tetroxide plus hydrazine.[1]

History

In 1935,

hydrazine hydrate was hypergolic with high-test peroxide of 80–83%. He was probably the first to discover this phenomenon, and set to work developing a fuel. Prof. Otto Lutz assisted the Walter Company with the development of C-Stoff which contained 30% hydrazine hydrate, 57% methanol, and 13% water, and spontaneously ignited with high strength hydrogen peroxide.[2]: 13  BMW developed engines burning a hypergolic mix of nitric acid with various combinations of amines, xylidines and anilines.[3]

Hypergolic propellants were discovered independently, for the second time, in the U.S. by

freezing point of aniline. The second problem was eventually solved by the addition of small quantities of furfuryl alcohol to the aniline.[2]
: 22–23 

An early hypergolic-propellant rocket engine, the Walter 109-509A of 1942–45.

In Germany from the mid-1930s through

hard starts than electric or pyrotechnic ignition. The "hypergole" terminology was coined by Dr. Wolfgang Nöggerath, at the Technical University of Brunswick, Germany.[5]

The only rocket-powered fighter ever deployed was the

Bachem Ba 349
Natter vertical launch expendable fighter was ever flight-tested with the Walter rocket propulsion system as its primary sustaining thrust system for military-purpose aircraft.

The earliest

submarine-launched ballistic missiles and then in land-based U.S. and Soviet ICBMs.[2]
: 47 

The

Service Propulsion System. Those spacecraft and the Space Shuttle (among others) used hypergolic propellants for their reaction control systems
.

The trend among western space launch agencies is away from large hypergolic rocket engines and toward hydrogen/oxygen engines with higher performance. Ariane 1 through 4, with their hypergolic first and second stages (and optional hypergolic boosters on the Ariane 3 and 4) have been retired and replaced with the Ariane 5, which uses a first stage fueled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The Titan II, III and IV, with their hypergolic first and second stages, have also been retired. Hypergolic propellants are still widely used in upper stages when multiple burn-coast periods are required, and in launch escape systems.

Characteristics

Hypergolic propellant tanks of the Orbital Maneuvering System of Space Shuttle Endeavour

Advantages

Hypergolically-fueled rocket engines are usually simple and reliable because they need no ignition system. Although larger hypergolic engines in some launch vehicles use

hard start
.

As hypergolic rockets do not need an ignition system, they can fire any number of times by simply opening and closing the propellant valves until the propellants are exhausted and are therefore uniquely suited for spacecraft maneuvering and well suited, though not uniquely so, as upper stages of such space launchers as the

Merlin on the Falcon 9 can also be restarted.[7]

The most common hypergolic fuels,

nitrogen tetroxide, are all liquid at ordinary temperatures and pressures. They are therefore sometimes called storable liquid propellants. They are suitable for use in spacecraft missions lasting many years. The cryogenity of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen has so far limited their practical use to space launch vehicles where they need to be stored only briefly.[8] As the largest issue with the usage of cryogenic propellants in interplanetary space is boil-off, which is largely dependent on the scale of spacecraft, for larger craft such as Starship
this is less of an issue.

Another advantage of hypergolic propellants is their high density compared to cryogenic propellants.

space probes, as the higher propellant density allows the size of their propellant tank to be reduced significantly, which in turn allows the probe to fit within a smaller payload fairing
.

Disadvantages

Relative to their mass, traditional hypergolic propellants possess a lower calorific value than cryogenic propellant combinations like LH2 / LOX or LCH4 / LOX.[10] A launch vehicle that uses hypergolic propellant must therefore carry a greater mass of fuel than one that uses these cryogenic fuels.

The

corrosivity, toxicity, and carcinogenicity of traditional hypergolics necessitate expensive safety precautions.[11][12] Failure to follow adequate safety procedures with an exceptionally dangerous UDMH-nitric acid propellant mixture nicknamed "Devil's Venom", for example, resulted in the deadliest rocketry accident in history, the Nedelin catastrophe.[13]

Hypergolic combinations

Common

Common hypergolic propellant combinations include:[14]

Less common or obsolete

Less-common or obsolete hypergolic propellants include:

Proposed, remain unflown

  • Chlorine trifluoride (ClF3) + all known fuels – Briefly considered as an oxidizer given its high hypergolicity with all standard fuels, but ultimately abandoned in the 70s due to the difficulty of handling the substance safely. Chlorine trifluoride is known to burn concrete and gravel.[2]: 74  Chlorine pentafluoride (ClF5) presents the same hazards, but offers higher specific impulse than ClF3.
  • nitrogen tetroxide in the RD-270M rocket engine. This propellant combination would have yielded a significant increase in performance, but was ultimately given up due to toxicity concerns.[27]
  • Tetramethylethylenediamine + IRFNA – A sightly less toxic alternative to Hydrazine and its derivatives.

Related technology

Merlin engines on the SpaceX Falcon 9
rockets.

Notes

  1. ^ "-ergol", Oxford English Dictionary

References

Citations
  1. OSTI 767866
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8135-0725-5. Archived
    (PDF) from the original on 10 July 2022.
  3. ^ Lutz, O. (1957). "BMW Developments". In Benecke, T. H.; Quick, A.W.; Schulz, W. (eds.). History of German Guided Missiles Development (Guided Missiles Seminar. 1956. Munich). Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development-AG-20. Appelhans. p. 420.
  4. ISBN 978-1-56347-649-5
    .
  5. ISBN 9783828902947
  6. ISBN 978-1-59420-227-8
    .
  7. ^ "SpaceX". SpaceX. Retrieved 2021-12-29.
  8. ^ "Fuel Propellants - Storable, and Hypergolic vs. Ignitable by Mike Schooley". Archived from the original on 24 July 2021.
  9. ^ "PROPERTIES OF ROCKET PROPELLANTS". braeunig.us. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022.
  10. doi:10.18434/T4D303
    .
  11. ^ A Summary of NASA and USAF Hypergolic Propellant Related Spills and Fires at the Internet Archive
  12. YouTube
  13. ^ The Nedelin Catastrophe, Part 1, 28 October 2014, archived from the original on 15 November 2014
  14. ^ "ROCKET PROPELLANTS". braeunig.us.
  15. ^ Apollo 11 Mission Report - Performance of the Command and Service Module Reaction Control System (PDF). NASA - Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. December 1971. pp. 4, 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 July 2022.
  16. ISBN 1-58834-009-0
    .
  17. ^ "Space Launch Report: Ariane 5 Data Sheet". Archived from the original on February 2, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  18. ^ "SpaceX Updates". SpaceX. 2007-12-10. Archived from the original on January 4, 2011. Retrieved 2010-02-03.
  19. ^ "ISRO tests Vikas engine". The Hindu. 2014-03-23. Archived from the original on 2014-03-23. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  20. ^ "WAC Corporal Sounding Rocket". Archived from the original on 7 January 2022.
  21. ^ "Project SPECTRA - Experimental evaluation of a Liquid storable propellant" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 November 2013.
  22. ^ "Nitric acid/Hydrazine". Astronautix.com. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  23. ^ "High Test Peroxide" (pdf). Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  24. ^ "European space-rocket liquid-propellant engines". Archived from the original on 23 July 2021.
  25. ^ "P8E-9". Archived from the original on 12 May 2022.
  26. ^ "Nitric Acid/UDMH". Archived from the original on 1 July 2022.
  27. ^ Astronautix: RD-270 Archived 2009-04-30 at the Wayback Machine.
Bibliography

External links
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