Manufacture and deflagration of an atomic hydrogen propellant

Abstract

It is observed that the use of very low temperatures (in the range 0.1 °K to 1.5°K) produced by advanced cryogenic apparatus and the use of very strong magnetic fields (in the range 50 kG to 100 kG) produced by superconducting magnets can yield a significant improvement in the atomic hydrogen trapping effectiveness of an H2 matrix. The use of a radioactive β-ray emitter isotope may yield H-H2 propellants (with Isp ≌ 740 sec) by secondary electron impact dissociations of H2 in an impregnated matrix maintained below I K in a strong magnetic field. Another method for manufacturing an H-H2 propellant involves bombardment of supercooled solid H2 with a cyclotron-produced beam of 10 Mev hydrogen atoms. The matrix-isolated atomic hydrogen must be used directly without prior melting as a solid propellant, and an analysis of the steady deflagration is presented. © 1974 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. All rights reserved.