An Innovative Integrated Chemical and Environmental Sensor for Health Monitoring of Double-Base Propellants

Double base propellants such as those used in the Navy"s Cartridge Actuated Devices (CAD) and Propellant Actuated Devices (PAD) are succeptible to degradation via nitrate ester thermolysis. Typical formulations have stabilizing compounds that can retard this degradation however they are consumed over time, and it has been recently discovered that stabilizer depletion is dramatically increased by elevated temperatures. To prevent thermal runaway, cook-off and spontaneous combustion events it is necessary to have an effective method for measuring, recording and reporting the stabilizer concentration levels in CADs. Luna Innovations has combined its expertise in optical physics and propellant chemistry to develop a fiber optic sensor solution capable of real-time stabilizer concentration monitoring. The proposed solution will be low cost, lightweight, compact and will have minimal effect on the operational function of the CAD"s once implemented.