Abstract:

This work has been designed as an example in current comprehensive chemistry laboratory course. Firstly, nitrogen was filled into a bomb calorimeter, and sucrose was combusted in this calorimeter using KNO₃ as the oxidant and ferric oxide as the catalyst. During combustion of sucrose, change of the temperature was measured through using isothermal calorimeter. Next, the deviation of ΔT was corrected using Reynolds method, and the heat of combustion of sucrose at constant volume was calculated, that is the heat of explosion of nitrosaccharose. When the mass ratio of sucrose-KNO₃-ferric oxide was 39:59:2, both the heat of explosion and specific impulse were the largest. Based on the above results, the best proportion of nitrosaccharose fuel was selected for computer simulation of rocket launching system. A series of the specific impulse of nitrosaccharose fuel and the flying height of the rocket were obtained through changing the pressure of combustion chamber and flow rate of nitrosaccharose fuel. In addition, the engine parameters of single-stage rocket for transporting Dongfanghong-1 into the predetermined orbit were calculated through using this simulation system. The engine parameters of multiple-state rockets were also obtained by changing the types and ratio of rocket fuel. As a result, combination of bomb calorimeter experiments and computer simulation system greatly helped innovative design of the current experiment, enlightening creative thought of students.

Key words: Rocket fuel, Bomb calorimeter, Heat of explosion, Computer simulation