A Study of the Effects of Electric Fields on Solid Propellant Burning Rates

Influence of an Electric Field on the Burning Behavior of Solid Fuels and Propellants

“…Instead, Baranov [3] concluded that the application of an electric field creates surface roughness which allows the oxidizer (ammonium perchlorate in this case) to escape early leading to additional oxidizer being carried into the reaction zone. To further cloud published interpretations, Bestgen [4] concluded in the experiments that he performed, that ionic winds could not have been the cause of the observed burning rate increase/decrease due to the composition of the gas phase of his experiments. Instead, Bestgen [4] suggests that increases in burning rate were due to Abstract: An experimental study on the effects of an applied external electric field on the combustion behavior of solid fuels and solid propellants has been conducted.…”

“…To further cloud published interpretations, Bestgen [4] concluded in the experiments that he performed, that ionic winds could not have been the cause of the observed burning rate increase/decrease due to the composition of the gas phase of his experiments. Instead, Bestgen [4] suggests that increases in burning rate were due to Abstract: An experimental study on the effects of an applied external electric field on the combustion behavior of solid fuels and solid propellants has been conducted. In an opposed flow burning configuration, application of an electric field was shown to extinguish a paraffin fuel and gaseous oxygen flame over a broad range of operating conditions.…”

“…In fact, this concept was proposed at least as far back as the 1960's [1]. In general, the application of electric fields to a combusting solid propellant has shown to increase the burning rate of the propellant in question [2][3][4] and even under certain conditions can decrease the burning rate as well [2,4]. Baranov [3] identified some potential mechanisms for burning rate alteration due to electric fields: 1) Joule heating, 2) ionic wind, and 3) an alteration in chemical kinetics.…”