Apparatus for probing preignition behavior of hypergolic materials.

The determination of the condensed-phase preignition chemistry of hypergolic bipropellant pairs has been considerably challenging due to toxicity and reactivity of the used materials. In this work, we describe a new experimental technique for characterizing preignition behavior of hypergolic materials. Small quantities of the bipropellant pair are brought in contact under isothermal conditions, and spectral transmission measurements on the evolved products are performed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The gaseous products are subsequently quantified to yield species concentration profiles at various temperatures, hence facilitating the elucidation of the detailed condensed-phase chemical kinetics responsible for the ignition in the gas phase.