High-test peroxide High-test peroxide (HTP) is a highly concentrated (85 to 98%) solution of hydrogen peroxide, with the remainder consisting predominantly of water. In contact with a catalyst, it decomposes into a high-temperature mixture of steam and oxygen, with no remaining liquid water. It was used as a propellant of HTP rockets and torpedoes, and has been used for high-performance vernier engines. ## Properties Hydrogen peroxide works best as a propellant in extremely high concentrations (roughly over 70%). Although any concentration of peroxide will generate some hot gas (oxygen plus some steam), at concentrations above approximately 67%, the heat of decomposing hydrogen peroxide becomes large enough to completely vaporize all the liquid at standard pressure. This represents a safety and utilization turning point, since decomposition of any concentration above this amount is capable of transforming the liquid entirely to heated gas (the higher the concentration, the hotter the resulting gas). This very hot steam/oxygen mixture can then be used to generate maximal thrust, power, or work, but it also makes explosive decomposition of the material far more hazardous. Normal

High-test peroxide High-test peroxide (HTP) is a highly concentrated (85 to 98%) solution of hydrogen peroxide, with the remainder consisting predominantly of water. In contact with a catalyst, it decomposes into a high-temperature mixture of steam and oxygen, with no remaining liquid water. It was used as a propellant of HTP rockets and torpedoes, and has been used for high-performance vernier engines. ## Properties Hydrogen peroxide works best as a propellant in extremely high concentrations, i.e., roughly, concentrations greater than 67%. Although any concentration of peroxide will generate some amount of oxygen and water in the form of hot gas, at such high concentrations, the heat of the decomposing hydrogen peroxide becomes high enough to completely vaporize any remaining liquid at ambient pressure. This represents an important safety and utilization threshold, as the decomposition of these high-concentration solutions above this is at risk of the liquid transforming entirely to heated gas: above this threshold, increasing concentration will release hotter gas. This high-temperature steam/oxygen mixture can be employed to generate thrust, power, or work, but is considered

## Development of Hydrogen Peroxide Monopropellant ## Rockets * † ‡ Angelo Cervone , Lucio Torre , Luca d’Agostino ALTA S.p.A. - Via Gherardesca, 5 - 56121 Ospedaletto, Pisa, Italy § Antony J. Musker DELTACAT Limited, Lee on Solent, PO13 9AU, UK ** Graham T. Roberts School of Engineering Sciences, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK †† ‡‡ Cristina Bramanti , Giorgio Saccoccia ESA-ESTEC, Keplerlaan 1, Nordwijk, The Netherlands Alta S.p.A. (Italy) and DELTACAT Ltd. (United Kingdom) are conducting a study, funded by the European Space Agency, into the development of hydrogen peroxide monopropellant thrusters using advanced catalytic beds. The present paper focuses on the design of two different demonstration thrusters with nominal ratings of 5 N and 25 N. Design requirements and specifications are presented, followed by the main results of a concept study, which was conducted to define the approximate dimensions needed. Some details about the specific design of the two prototypes and the choice of the main components are provided, with particular regard to the sensors and transducers to be used during the experimentation. Different catalytic bed configurations, inclu

# Does hydrogen peroxide work as a rocket fuel oxidizer by itself? Tags: fuel, oxidizer, hydrogen-peroxide - Score: 11 - Views: 2365 - Answers: 1 - Answered: yes - Asked by: user54683 - Asked: 2024-09-11 - Edited: 2024-09-12 - Site: space ## Question Suppose an aerospace company is building a rocket engine. Their fuel is isopropanol. They don't have access to LOX or another common oxidizer, and the engine cannot be air-breathing. They only have hydrogen peroxide ($\require{mhchem}\ce{H_2O_2}$). Would hydrogen peroxide, when mixed with and ignited in an isopropanol solution, oxidize the fuel and allow it to burn? If no, why not? I think I should note that I do not intend to attempt this. It's out of pure curiosity. ## Answers ### Answer by Russell Borogove (score: 17 [ACCEPTED]) Yes, hydrogen peroxide works as an oxidizer with hydrocarbon and hydrazine fuels. The raw specific impulse of peroxide-based combinations is generally lower than LOX with the same fuels (e.g Hydrazine/LOX = 312 sec, Hydrazine/H2O2 = 286 sec, about 8% difference), but it is relatively dense, about 27% denser than LOX. I haven't found a specific impulse figure for the isopropanol/H2O2 combination, but t