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Post by banjomd on Nov 1, 2010 12:53:50 GMT -4
What caused the "Big F***ing Red (orange) Cloud" at ignition of a TitanII? The Aerozine 50 and dinitrogen tetroxide propellants seem to react cleanly once off the pad?
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Post by echnaton on Nov 1, 2010 13:13:44 GMT -4
It is caused by incomplete combustion during engine start up that releases raw reactive propellants into the air.
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Bob B.
Bob the Excel Guru?
Posts: 3,072
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Post by Bob B. on Nov 1, 2010 14:32:08 GMT -4
The propellants aren't injected into the engine at the same time or in the correct mixture ratio at startup. The nitrogen tetroxide enters the engine first, which reacts with the air to form the orange cloud. As soon as the Aerozine 50 enters the engine, the propellant ignites. It takes a couple seconds for the engine to reach the right mixture ratio and stabilize. Once it does, the engine burns pretty cleanly with N2, H2, H2O, CO and CO2 being the main exhaust gases.
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Post by banjomd on Nov 1, 2010 16:09:14 GMT -4
I knew I could count on y'all for an answer; thanks
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Post by ka9q on May 28, 2011 3:40:25 GMT -4
I don't think the N2O4 actually reacts with the air; it simply vaporizes. N2O4 is actually an equilibrium mixture of N2O4, which is colorless, and NO2, which is reddish-brown. So when you see the orange cloud, you're just seeing NO2.
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