Gelled hydrogren peroxide for green propellants

Nearly pure hydrogen peroxide with less than 1% water was gelled using 15 to 25% polyvinyl-pyrrolidon (PVP) resulting in stable mono-propellants with reliable rheological properties and sensitivity parameters better than nitromethane according to drop hammer and friction. Maximum vacuum specific impulse was calculated to 2750 Ns/kg. The burning behavior of three compositions was investigated in a window bomb pressurized with nitrogen. Ignition was successfully performed between 0.1 and 13 MPa resulting in well reproducible and linear self-propagation with fast burning velocities of about 100 mm/s at 7 MPa. The measured temperatures of 2200 to 2650 K agree well with thermodynamic predictions.