DEVELOPMENT OF AN EXPERIMENTALLY VERIFIED PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM FOR THE PRODUCTION OF LIQUID NITROGEN TETROXIDE

THE PLANNED INCREASED USAGE BY THE AIR FORCE OF BIPROPELLANT SYSTEMS SUCH AS NITROGEN TETROXIDE AND MONOMETHYL HYDRAZINE FOR SPACECRAFTS REQUIRES THAT A PROCESS PRODUCING ESSENTIALLY PURE LIQUID NITROGEN TETROXIDE BE DEVELOPED. LIQUID NITROGEN TETROXIDE CURRENTLY PRODUCED BY AVAILABLE TECHNIQUES CONTAINS IMPURITIES WHICH CAN CLOG FILTERS AND VALVES ON BIPROPELLANT SYSTEMS. LABORATORY PREPARATION OF LIQUID NITROGEN TETROXIDE VIA THE CATALYTIC COMBUSTION OF AMMONIA INDICATES THAT AN ESSENTIALLY PURE MATERIAL CAN BE MADE. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THE PROGRAM IS THE VALIDATION OF THE BENCH SCALE PRODUCTION OF NITROGEN TETROXIDE VIA THE CATALYTIC COMBUSTION OF AMMONIA. THE PROPOSED STUDY FOR PHASE I OF THE PROGRAM INVOLVES THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM WITH OPERATING CONDITIONS (PRESSURES, TEMPERATURES AND FLOW RATES) WITH SUBSEQUENT EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION. THE ANTICIPATED PROCESS INVOLVES A MODIFICATION OF THE PROCESS COMMERCIALLY USED IN THE PRODUCTION OF NITRIC ACID. WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN EXPERIMENTALLY-VALIDATED PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM, THE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT EFFORT REQUIRED TO DESIGN, CONSTRUCT AND OPERATE A PILOT PLANT SYSTEM TO FINALIZE THE PROCESS PARAMETERS OF A FULL SCALE PLANT WILL BE REDUCED.