Characterization of an Ignition System for Nitromethane-Based Monopropellants

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a hot-fire test campaign aimed at characterizing a newly developed ignition system for nitromethane-based green monopropellants. Nitromethane-based propellants are a cost-effective replacement for hydrazine and energetic ionic liquid hydrazine alternatives, such as LMP-103S and ASCENT. The developed system uses a glow plug as the ignition source. Additionally, gaseous oxygen is injected simultaneously into the combustion chamber at the beginning of a firing. After closing the oxygen valve, a pure monopropellant operation follows. Three test series were carried out using NMP-001, a priorly characterized nitromethane-based monopropellant. During the first test series, the required ROF for ignition was identified to be above 0.3. In the second test series, the low-pressure combustion limit was characterized to be 13.9~bar, which is significantly lower than the 30~bar limit of heritage nitromethane-based monopropellants. In the third test series, the oxygen injection timing was optimized to minimize the required amount of oxygen for successful ignition to 1.5~g per ignition in this test setup. This approach to ignition is more cost-effective than catalytic initiation used in other monopropellants because neither costly precious-metal catalytic materials nor lengthy preheating procedures are required.