Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Nanocomposite And Mechanically Alloyed Reactive Materials As Energetic Additives In Chemical Oxygen Generators, Marco Antonio Machado

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Chemical oxygen generators are widely used for aircraft, spacecraft, submarines, and mine rescue. Oxygen-generating compositions typically include alkali metal chlorate or perchlorate that decomposes at increased temperatures, a transition-metal oxide as a decomposition catalyst, and a metal fuel that reacts with part of the produced oxygen to provide heat for a self-sustained propagation of the decomposition/combustion wave. To increase the oxygen yield per unit mass, it is of interest to minimize the amount of metal fuel, but decreasing its content leads to pulsating combustion and undesired fluctuations of the oxygen flow rate. This work explores the feasibility of replacing iron …