Because my liquid rocket ignitor fabrication kit was stolen, along with the
rest of my rocket equipment, I'm considering just that, Aerotek grains. I
just need to look at the compositions to get the closest match to mine
which has Mg filings loaded into 3/4" estes cardboard body tubing. Sounds
like you know the various grains better than I do which is next to nothing.
Requirements are slow burning,i.e. 1/16"/sec @ 1atm lots of sparks and a
smoky/rich exhaust. 34" long grains give a 10-12 sec burn time. The
ignitors are for that Texas high school 1.5KLbF LOx/Kerosene flight rocket
to be flown at FAR.
Thank you for any help,
Ken
On Thu, Oct 29, 2020 at 11:51 AM Terry McCreary <tmccreary@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Are commercial composite propellants unsuitable for this? A 14" grain of
Blue Thunder(TM) propellant, just under an inch in diameter, cast in
cardboard tubing, is $12. RCS has a dozen other propellants, slow (Black
Jack), fast (Warp-9), sparky (Metalstorm) if BT isn't suitable. They also
have a few propellants in smaller diameters, plus phenolic tubing
insulators to fit the cardboard tube if that is desirable. Not as much fun
as making your own, but reproducible and inexpensive.
https://www.rocketmotorparts.com/Blue_Thunder__Propellant_Grains/cat1577810_1952803.aspx
Best -- Terry
On 10/29/2020 1:10 PM, ken mason wrote:
Remove the nozzle first to extend burn time at atmospheric pressure.
I made my own custom grains formulated with things that burn vigorously in
an oxygen atmosphere. Burn time ~ 10 sec plus embed a thermocouple 1/8"
from the end of the grain to verify the ignitor is burning before opening
your prop valves.
K
On Thu, Oct 29, 2020 at 11:03 AM Gram Nylen <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
This is just an inexperienced shower thought, but could one use a smallDr. Terry McCreary
Estes motor in some kind of orthogonal mount flush to the chamber wall as a
liquid engine igniter?
On Oct 29, 2020, at 10:58 AM, Doug Jones <rocketplumber@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I second the recommendation for a spark torch igniter, which will also
serve as a team building exercise that improves confidence. Once you have a
reliable ignition system your team can move on to the next level.
On Thu, Oct 29, 2020, 10:55 AM roxanna Mason <rocketmaster.ken@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
From personal hands-on experience with TEA it's not ,my first choice for--
an ignition system. TEB costs an order of magnitude more,i.e. $20 vs
$200/gallon as of 20 years ago. It depends on what you're igniting, how
many times,how often, ground vs flight,etc.. I prefer a pyro for one shot
or limited cycles and a so called 'torch' ignitor for multiple and
repeatable ignitions.
K
On Thu, Oct 29, 2020 at 4:04 AM Dr Edw Jones <Rocket.Pioneer@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Any guidelines for storage and handling of small amounts of these
tetraethyl compounds?
Any recommended purveyors of small amounts?
Thanks, Edward Jones
Professor Emeritus
Murray State University
Murray KY 42071