Kinetic parameters of composite propellants from thermogravimetric data

This paper presents a method of estimating all three global kinetic parameters from the results of a single dynamic (nonisothermal) thermogravimetry run on a composite propellant sample. The kinetic parameters sought here are the three unknowns: (1) A, the preexponential factor, (2) E, the energy of activation, and (3) n, the order of reaction, from the equation d-alpha/dT = (1-alpha) exp n x A/phi x e exp -E/RT describing the homogeneous reaction kinetics model for solid rocket propellant combustion. Although these parameters do not have the same connotation for heterogeneous reactions as they do for homogeneous reactions, they are very useful for the development of phenomenological models of many aspects of propellant combustion. The procedure also shows how satisfactorily pyrolysis of the propellant can be represented by the above equation with constant values of A, E, and n. (AIAA)