High Temperature Thermodynamic Processes: Their Generalized Treatment, with Particular Application to Rocket Motors

Abstract

AT temperatures commonly attained in the reaction of liquid propellents at operative pressures in rocket combustion chambers, the significant gaseous end products can be shown to consist at chemical equilibrium of some or all of the following types: H2O, CO2, N2, CO, H2, O2, OH, NO, H, O, N and (rarely) C‐gaseous. The concentrations of these constituents are dependent, for a given propellent combination, upon the temperature (and to a less extent the pressure) conditions under which the reaction proceeds to equilibrium. Thus at temperatures below 2,500°K., the products H2O, CO2, N2 alone are of significance for the case of oxygen balance, whilst to these are added O2 for the oxygen excess case, and CO and H2 for oxygen deficit. The other products are formed by dissociation of these, and their concentrations increase sharply as the temperature rises above some 2,700°K.

Citation

Osborne, F.E. (1952), "High Temperature Thermodynamic Processes: Their Generalized Treatment, with Particular Application to Rocket Motors", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 24 No. 10, pp. 294-297. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb032216