Thermodynamic charts for the combustion products of nitric acid and kerosene

Abstract

Thermodynamic charts giving enthalpy, entropy, temperature, pressure and specific volume, have been constructed for the products of combustion of a hydrocarbon fuel (85 per cent C, 15 per cent H by weight) with nitric acid (98 per cent by weight). The charts have been drawn for the following mixture ratios of the propellants: (a) stoichiometric proportion (b) 10 per cent by weight excess of fuel (c) 50 per cent by weight excess of fuel (d) 10 per cent by weight excess of oxidant. Graphs of combustion temperature and specific impulse against mixture ratio are also shown. The procedure for calculating the initial enthalpy of the separate propellants (before combustion) and that of the propellant mixture is described.