Active binder propellants incorporating burning rate catalysts

Claim 1

An active binder propellant composition comprising, by weight: (A) a nitrocellulose binder in the range 8-99.9 percent; (B) oxidizer or monopropellant in the range 0-60 percent; and (C) a burn rate catalyst, in the range 0.01-20 percent, which consists of certain decahydrodecaborate salts, having the common anion B 10 H 10 -2 wherein the cation is selected from the group consisting of: (i) ammonium, wherein the salt has the formula (NH 4 ) 2 B 10 H 10 ; (ii) hydrazinium, wherein the salt has the general formula (NH 2 NH 3 )B 10 H 10 ; (iii) substituted ammonium cations, wherein the salt has the general formula (R 3 NH) 2 B 10 H 10 , wherein further R is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and alkyl radicals containing less than six carbon atoms; (iv) substituted hydrazinium cations, wherein the salt has the general formula (R 2 NNR 2 H) 2 B 10 H 10 wherein further R is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and alkyl radicals containing less than six atoms, wherein said burn rate catalyst is further the resultant product of a coprecipitation of one of said group of decahydrodecaborate salts, and a solid oxidizing agent, by the process of: (i) dissolving both the decahydrodecaborate (-2) salt and the solid oxidizing agent in a mutually soluble solvent, at a temperature sufficiently high to maintain said salt and said oxidizing agent in solution; (ii) forming a pressurized stream of said solution and bringing said solution stream together with a pressurized stream of a miscible nonsolvent, under conditions of extreme turbulence within a mixing chamber, to effect a substantially complete coprecipitation; (iii) recovering the coprecipitated product by filtering the effluent from said mixing chamber, and washing said product with an inert and nonsolvent fluid; (iv) drying the product to remove all remaining fluid.