INITIAL STAGE DECOMPOSITION KINETICS OF NITROCELLULOSE PROPELLANT

摘要

A thermal decomposition reaction in nitrocellulose, which is the basic component of homogeneous propellents, limits the safe use and safe storage time of propellants. Under certain conditions the decomposition may lead to the well-known phenomenon of self-ignition. In order to be able predict the shelf-life and thermal hazard potential of propellants it is of vital importance to know a true decomposition mechanism and true vales of kinetic constants. In this work we have studied decomposition kinetics of nitrocellulose propellant during the initial decomposition stage (up to 2% mass loss) at elevated temperatures ranging from 80 to 100 °C. The kinetic results were derived from sample mass loss-time/temperature. It was found out that the activation energy for this decomposition stage equals 123.4 kJ/mol, and pre-exponential factor 1.78·10{sup}6 1/s. Also, it was found out, on the basis of the kinetic data obtained, that the reaction rate accelerating factor changes with temperature - from ～3 at 90-100 °C temperature range to about 5.5 at the room temperatures.