摘要：

Ammonium nitrate (AN), an inorganic solid oxidizer used in rocket propulsion decades ago, has been enjoying a new prosperity. The main reasons favoring its return are that it produces environmentally friendly combustion products, it is very cheap, and it is a safe energetic material. The principal objectives of this work are to improve the general understanding of pure AN combustion, clarify the burning properties of a broad range of AN-based formulations, and elucidate some instability effects of pure AN, as well as AN-based propellant burning. Experiments were performed on several categories of AN-based compositions: neat AN burning as a solid monopropellant, with minor additives to promote decomposition chemical reactions; mixtures:of AN with organic substances including trinitrotoluene; solid mixtures of AN with metallic powders;:and AN water solutions with an organic fuel (also called water-impregnated compositions). Preliminary results indicate that, up to pressures of the order of hundreds of atmospheres, the main reactions responsible for the heat release occur:mostly in the condensed phase. At higher pressures, the gas phase flame plays an important role in controlling the burning rate.

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