Material Study for Thermal Catalytic Ignition of Nitromethane

Kurzfassung

Nitromethane is a promising candidate to replace hydrazine. In recent years, the space industry has shifted towards new green propellants to try to minimise the handling costs resulting from the high toxicity and carcinogenic properties. This paper provides an overview of research focused on the catalytic ignition of nitromethane in recent years and the past. Also, it is an introduction to a new test setup that is used for the identification of promising catalytic materials. Initial results with tungsten indicate that, even at high temperatures, nitromethane only evaporates under atmospheric pressure in an argon environment.