HELICON CHEMICAL COMPANY LLC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: N141-011

Description

During the course of the proposed work Helicon will develop and demonstrate Solid Fuel Ramjet (SFRJ) high performance fuels based on proprietary in-situ grown aluminum nanoparticles. Currently available solid fuel grains do not yet meet the Navys mission requirements for ramjet application. Fuels developed by Helicon have demonstrated high regression rates combined with high specific impulse as well as properties consistent with insensitive munitions. By generating the aluminum directly in the fuel binder, many drawbacks of traditional nano-powder additives are eliminated. To prove feasibility Helicon proposes to test various formulations and concentrations of its in-situ nanoparticles to determine which iteration is optimal when applied in a solid fuel ram jet. Upon determination of promising formulations, larger scale tests will commence to generate data to determine efficiency of use in ramjet engines. Aluminum particles gown in place within fuel binders have shown vast increases in performance over standard metal additives, permitting high performance applications not previously available.