Staged Process for Composite Propellants: Recovery of Energetic and Metallic Fuel

A feasible process has been developed to recover precious inorganic solids (energetic and metallic fuel) from the obsolete pofyurethane-based propellants in order to solve their associated long-term disposal problems. In the staged process, two major tasks have been accomplished. One was the success...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEnergy sources Vol. 19; no. 8; pp. 833 - 843
Main Authors SHIU, FRANK J. Y., YANG, IRIS C. Y., YEN, TEH FU
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Philadelphia, PA Taylor & Francis Group 01.10.1997
Taylor & Francis
Subjects
Applied sciences
biodegradation
Combustion. Flame
composite
energetic
Energy
Energy. Thermal use of fuels
Exact sciences and technology
matrix modification
metallic fuel
Miscellaneous
polymer
propellant
recovery
Theoretical studies. Data and constants. Metering
ultrasonic degradation
Military application
Biodegradation
Material recovery
Acoustic treatment
Polyurethane
Composite propellant
Ultrasound
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Summary:A feasible process has been developed to recover precious inorganic solids (energetic and metallic fuel) from the obsolete pofyurethane-based propellants in order to solve their associated long-term disposal problems. In the staged process, two major tasks have been accomplished. One was the successful separation of the three major components, energetics, metallic fuel, and polymer, by cleaving the polyurethane binders of the three-dimensional network; the other was the complete degradation of the high molecular weight polymers into simple phenolic compounds. The preliminary results indicate that the techniques of matrix modification, ultrasonic degradation, and biodegradation are, to various degrees, effective in handling polyurethane-based propellants in an environmentally safe and stable manner. In addition to its unparalleled technical precedence, it is believed that this process will provide an economical solution to a global environmental problem and can be put into actual industrial use.
ISSN:0090-8312
1521-0510
DOI:10.1080/00908319708908894