ALICE Purdue PSU

This is a video describing the initial development of a nanoscale aluminum and water ice (ALICE) propellant. This work was done by a collaborative effort between Purdue and Penn State University and was funded by AFOSR and NASA. The support of Dr. Mitat Birkan is particularly noted. Applications include in situ propellants. Much work remains to improve performance.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• propellant
• rocket
• solid propellant
• nanoscale aluminum
• aluminum-water

[1ukjunglednbraver]

i mixed a bag of german dark al with water in my room after reading fire hazard in contact with water on the packet....i didnt do anything at first but after about 2-3 minutes it all kicked off bubbling gas spurting crap all over the place what a mess thankfully it didnt go rocket fuel on me

[sfson5]

@1ukjunglednbraver That's why they say not to mix it with water....

[netsight]

Fascinating stuff indeed, tell me has there been any further development with the project with regard to the possible usage of additional additives to increase fuel energy/kg - like for example enriching the oxygen content in the precooled water solution? or utilizing a Ga/Au nanoparticle alloy (if the alloy could be stabilized under temperature) ?

[sfson5]

@netsight Yes, we are working on several variants to increasing energy/performance. We have not looked at Ga/Au alloys.

[nouveautesdu78]

But doesn't it produce any nanoparticles from incomplete combustion ?

[doverdx]

Also, it looks like your propellant preheating is dominating your deflagration process. An opacifier added to the H2O may help with that.

[doverdx]

To help with your redox efficiency and two-phase characteristics, a Al/Mg alloy (few %) may help reduce mean droplet sizes and improve combustion stability when residence times are small (such as in your application). Depending on your adiabatic temperature and particle Fourier number, you may be able to induce droplet spalling as the droplet becomes unstable from the Mg phase transition inside the alloy. However, this increases the pyrophoricity of the propellant so be careful.

[1ukjunglednbraver]

@sfson5 yeh at first i was adding it slowly and then i thought this aint doing anything so i put the whole bag in and well.....you live and learn

[sfson5]

@XSAlexio We are looking at some that are used in water based paints for flake Al. That's still a work in progress.  Not freezing it is possible, but you need to make sure to use it right away or prove it is stable for the storage time. Freezing shuts the reaction down essentially.

[XSAlexio]

@sfson5

Thanks very much! Do you have an idea on what inhibitor to use? I take it you are using distilled water now (which makes good ice crystals). What inhibitor would allow you to keep good integrity?

By the way, how about gelating the whole thing with inhibitors in it? Keeping it cool but not frozen...