HCL measurements in space vehicle exhaust clouds
The United States Space Program requires the use of large launch vehicles like the space shuttle, Titan 34D, Titan IV, and the proposed heavy-lift vehicle. These large launch systems utilize solid rocket motors to place heavy payloads into orbit. However, most solid rocket motors utilize ammonium perchlorate as an oxidizer and release an exhaust cloud, which is a dynamic mixture of water, hydrogen chloride, aluminum oxide, and aluminum chloride. Described in this presentation are two infrared monitors which are designed for HCl field measurements. One monitor, developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), measures gaseous HCl and accounts for the presence of water and methane that absorb at the HCl wavelength. A detection limit of 0.2 ppM has been demonstrated. The second monitor, developed by Spectral Sciences, Inc., uses a unique HCl lamp which is free of interferences associated with conventional black body radiation sources. By combining the lamp with simple optics, a detection limit of 0.1 ppM has been obtained. Since much of the HCl in the ground cloud is entrained in small water droplets and the infrared technique measures only gaseous HCl, a method was required to account for aqueous HCl. The Spectral Sciences monitor features a preheater which vaporizes aerosols in the input gas stream so that total HCl can be measured. For both monitors, instrument design and operation are described in detail. 11 refs., 7 figs., 2 tabs.
- Research Organization:
- Air Force Civil Engineering Center, Tyndall AFB, FL (USA); Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA); Spectral Sciences, Inc., Burlington, MA (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 6954987
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-98893; CONF-8805173-1; ON: DE88013815
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: JANNAF Safety and Environmental Protection Subcommittee meeting, Monterey, CA, USA, 23 May 1988; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION
EXHAUST GASES
MONITORING
HYDROCHLORIC ACID
MONITORS
DESIGN
ROCKET ENGINES
CLOUDS
DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEMS
LAUNCHING
MEASURING METHODS
OPTICAL SYSTEMS
SPACE VEHICLES
ENGINES
FLUIDS
GASEOUS WASTES
GASES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INORGANIC ACIDS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
VEHICLES
WASTES
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