In all hydrazine monopropellant engines, the hydrazine is passed by a catalyst such as iridium metal supported by high-surface-area alumina (aluminium oxide) or carbon nanofibers,[30] or more recently molybdenum nitride on alumina,[31] which causes it to decompose into ammonia, nitrogen gas, and hydrogen gas according to the following reactions:[citation needed] 1.3 N2H4 → 4 NH3 + N2 2.N2H4 → N2 + 2 H2 3.4 NH3 + N2H4 → 3 N2 + 8 H2 Reactions 1 and 2 are extremely exothermic (the catalyst chamber can reach 800 °C in a matter of milliseconds,[30]) and they produce large volumes of hot gas from a small volume of liquid,[31]
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 23:23:31 +0000
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