Development of Environmental-Friendly Solid Propellants for Laser Ablation Propulsion

JUAN VOROBIOFF; CARLOS A. RINALDI; MARIA LAURA AZCÁRATE; BOGGIO ,NORBERTO GABRIEL; TORO, CINTHYA

Buenos Aires

Conferencia; 2nd Latin American SDEWES Conference 2020 Buenos Aires; 2020

SDEWES (International Centre For Sustainable Development of Energy , Water and Environmental Systems

Space exploration may have given us pictures of our pristine, blue planet Earth and raised awareness to protect our environment, but that's no good if the rockets that get us to orbit are based on conventional, toxic propellants. Solid propellants are energetic materials used to launch and propel rockets and missiles. Although their history dates from the use of black powder more than two millennia ago, better performance is required nowadays and the need for ??insensitive munitions?? resistant to accidental ignition has driven much research and development over the past half-century . The advantages of solid rocket propellants include: (i) simplicity, which is important for low maintenance costs and savings in high-production rate systems; (ii) storage stability, with service lifetimes that can be as long as 30 years; (iii) resistance to unintended detonation; (iv) reliability, related to their simplicity and chemical stability; and (v) high mass flow rates during launch, and consequently high thrust (propulsion force), a main requirement for the initial phase of missiles, all of which use solid propellant boosters. Green Solid Propellants consider energy consumption and pollution emission in the entire product lifecycle. The fundamental goal is to achieve low energy consumption, emission and pollution throughout the whole process including design, testing and manufacturing. These are essential for the balance of economic, social and environmental benefits. The main idea is to improve energy efficiency (cm)[ and the manufacture of solid propellant for laser ablation propulsion. In this way, it will be possible to develop a propulsion system friendly with the environment. The application of the acquired knowledge of the fundamental processes that govern laser ablation will enable the development of new methods as well as propellants based on nanocomposites for laser propulsion. These reasons have led us to use different ablation techniques in high vacuum and at atmospheric pressure using lasers of different wavelengths and pulse duration. The core for achieving this goal is technological innovation and the change in the development criteria of this type of solid propellants.