PREFACE
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A n
October 3, 1957 the first successful artificial satellite began to orbit the earth. The breathtaking advances in space flight since then are evidence of the rapid development of propellant technology. This development was able to proceed rapidly because a strong propellant technology based on military requirements already existed. This volume is the result of a request by the American Chemical Society's Division of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry that we organize a symposium on propellants for the 153rd A C S national meeting in A p r i l 1967. The chapters are, for the most part, selected from those papers invited for the meeting; other papers were solicited later to provide more complete coverage of important areas. This volume is intended to introduce chemists and chemical engineers (and other scientists and engineers) to modern propellant technology; it is also intended to broaden the view of those already engaged i n this field. In organizing the symposium, we made the usual division into solid and liquid rocket propellants. Most readers no doubt already know the relative merits of solid vs. liquid systems—viz., the instant readiness of solids (compared with cryogenic liquids), their higher density (important in volume-limited systems), and the relative simplicity of rocket construction; liquids offer easy variation i n thrust level and the attainment of higher specific impulses, the latter because physical separation permits the use of fuels and oxidizers that would be incompatible if premixed. Solid propellants utilize polymers, often with plasticizers, and often providing a matrix to contain other ingredients which participate in the combustion. The polymer-plasticizer combination provides the mechanical properties required and allows processing of the propellant into the desired shape and dimensions. Polymer and plasticizer may in themselves be energetic (capable of undergoing internal oxidation-reduction, exothermic, gas-forming decomposition) or may serve as fuels for suspended oxidizer particles. The first three chapters in this volume deal with solid propellants whose processing involves solution-gelation of the polymer. The next four chapters cover propellants in which the matrix is formed by in situ polymerization. These are followed by chapters on mechanical properties, combustion mechanism, and hazards. The volume concludes with chapters on liquid propellants, their properties, and their combustion mechanism. ix In Propellants Manufacture, Hazards, and Testing; Boyars, Carl, et al.; Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1969.
We thank the authors and reviewers of each of the papers. We also express our appreciation to the myriad chemists and chemical engineers who have contributed and will continue to contribute to progress in all aspects of rocket propulsion—propellants, structural materials, insulation, adhesives, igniters, process control, and safety. CARL BOYARS
Silver Spring, Md. Sacramento, Calif. February 1969
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KARL KLAGER
x In Propellants Manufacture, Hazards, and Testing; Boyars, Carl, et al.; Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1969.
