Everything about Propellant
Chemical substance used for propulsion
A propellant is a mass that is expelled or expanded in such a way as to create a thrust or another motive force in accordance with Newton's third law of motion, and "propel" a vehicle, projectile, or fluid payload. In vehicles, the engine that expels the propellant is called a reaction engine. Although technically a propellant is the reaction mass used to create thrust, the term "propellant" is often used to describe a substance which contains both the reaction mass and the fuel that holds the energy used to accelerate the reaction mass. For example, the term "propellant" is often used in chemical rocket design to describe a combined fuel/propellant, although the propellants should not be confused with the fuel that is used by an engine to produce the energy that expels the propellant. Even though the byproducts of substances used as fuel are also often used as a reaction mass to create the thrust, such as with a chemical rocket engine, propellant and fuel are two distinct concepts. Wikipedia →
🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path
- Read the overview: PropellantA 5-minute orientation
- Skim a recent paper: Ti3C2 MXene: A reactive combustion catalyst for efficient burning rate control of ammonium perchlorate based solid propellantInfluential work since 2022
- Pick up a classic book: Aircraft accident reportThe most-reprinted book on the subject
- Read the landmark paper: Energetic Ionic Liquids as Explosives and Propellant Fuels: A New Journey of Ionic Liquid ChemistryCited 626 times
- Go sideways: Rocket propellantA closely related topic
- Go sideways: Thermal rocketA closely related topic
📖 Definitions
Noun anything that propels fuel, oxidizer, reaction mass or mixture for one or more engines (especially internal combustion engines or jet engines) that is carried within a vehicle prior to use the compressed gas in a pressurised container (especially an aerosol can) that is used to expel its content the explosive found in ammunition cartridges
Noun fuel, oxidizer, reaction mass or mixture for one or more engines (especially internal combustion engines or jet engines) that is carried within a vehicle prior to use
Noun the compressed gas in a pressurised container (especially an aerosol can) that is used to expel its content
Noun the explosive found in ammunition cartridges
🗂️ The subject at a glance
🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)
Energetic Ionic Liquids as Explosives and Propellant Fuels: A New Journey of Ionic Liquid Chemistry
Chemical Kinetic Data Base for Propellant Combustion I. Reactions Involving NO, NO2, HNO, HNO2, HCN and N2O
A model of composite solid-propellant combustion based on multiple flames
Aluminum agglomeration reduction in a composite propellant using tailored Al/PTFE particles
Propellant injection in a liquid oxygen/gaseous hydrogen rocket engine
Aspects of Combustion Stability in Liquid Propellant Rocket Motors Part I: Fundamentals. Low Frequency Instability With Monopropellants
Comprehensive review of liquid-propellant combustion instabilities in F-1 engines
Modeling of combustion and ignition of solid-propellant ingredients
🆕 Influential since 2022
Ti3C2 MXene: A reactive combustion catalyst for efficient burning rate control of ammonium perchlorate based solid propellant
Multimodal optical excitation pulsed thermography: Enhanced recognize debonding defects of the solid propellant rocket motor cladding layer
Microfluidics: the propellant of CRISPR-based nucleic acid detection
Mechanical properties of thermal aged HTPB composite solid propellant under confining pressure
Energetic metal-organic framework based on multinuclear clusters of Cu(II) and Fe(III) and its catalytic action on thermal decomposition of solid propellant components (RDX, HMX, CL-20 and AP)
📚 Books worth reading
Aircraft accident reportUnited States. National Transportation Safety Board. · 1975
Propellants and ExplosivesNaminosuke Kubota · 2001
The elements of aerofoil and airscrew theoryHermann Glauert · 1926
Marine PropellersSydney Walker Barnaby · 1900
The Propeller HandbookDave Gerr · 1989- 📕Aeroacoustic wind-tunnel tests of a light twin-boom general aviation airplane with free or shrouded-pusher propellersH. Clyde McLemore · 1980
Ignition!John D. Clark · 1972
A treatise on airscrewsWhyrill E. Park · 1920
Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.
🔗 Related topics
- Rocket propellant Rocket propellant is used as a reaction mass ejected from a rocket engine to produce thrust. The energy required can either come from the propellants themselves…
- Thermal rocket A thermal rocket is a rocket engine that uses a propellant that is externally heated before being passed through a nozzle to produce thrust, as opposed…
- Rocket engine A rocket engine is a reaction engine, producing thrust in accordance with Newton's third law by ejecting reaction mass rearward, usually a high-speed jet…
- Specific impulse Specific impulse (usually abbreviated as Isp) is a physical quantity defined as the ratio of change in momentum (impulse) to the mass used, usually fuel…
- Rocket A rocket (from Italian: rocchetto, lit. ''bobbin/spool'', and so named for its shape) is an elongated flying vehicle that uses a rocket engine to accelerate…
- Jet propulsion Jet propulsion is the propulsion of an object in one direction, produced by ejecting a jet of fluid in the opposite direction. By Newton's third law, the…
- Cold gas thruster A cold gas thruster (or a cold gas propulsion system) is a type of rocket engine which uses the expansion of a (typically inert) pressurized gas to generate…
- Spacecraft propulsion Spacecraft propulsion is any method used to change the velocity of spacecraft or artificial satellites. In-space propulsion is used to maneuver the spacecraft…