Defence Technology (Oct 2023)
Modeling and simulation of solvent behavior and temperature distribution within long stick propellants with large web thickness undergoing drying
Abstract
Drying is a complicated physical process which involves simultaneous heat and mass transfer in the removal of solvents inside propellants. Inappropriate drying techniques may result in the formation of a hard skin layer near the surface to block the free access of most solvent through for long stick propellants with large web thickness, which lead to lower drying efficiency and worse drying quality. This study aims to gain a comprehensive understanding of drying process and clarify the mechanism of the blocked layer near the propellant surface. A new three-dimensional coupled heat and mass transfer (3D-CHMT) model was successfully developed under transient conditions. The drying experiment results show that the 3D-CHMT model could be applied to describe the drying process well since the relative error of the content of solvent between simulation and experiment values is only 5.5%. The solvent behavior simulation demonstrates that the mass transfer process can be divided into super-fast (SF) and subsequent minor-fast (MF) stages, and the SF stage is vital to the prevention of the blocked layer against the free access for solvent molecules inside propellant grains. The effective solvent diffusion coefficient (Deff) of the propellant surface initially increases from 3.4 × 10−6 to 5.3 × 10−6 m2/s as the temperature increases, and then decreases to 4.1 × 10−8 m2/s at 60–100 min. The value of Deff of surface between 0–1.4 mm has a unique trend of change compared with other regions, and it is much lower than that of the internal at 100 min under simulation conditions. Meanwhile, the temperature of the propellant surface increases rapidly at the SF stage (0–100 min) and then very slowly thereafter. Both the evolution of Deff and temperature distribution demonstrate that the blocked layer near the propellant surface has been formed in the time period of approximately 0–100 min and its thickness is about 1.4 mm. To mitigate the formation of blocked layer and improve its drying quality of finial propellant products effectively, it should be initially dried at lower drying temperature (30–40 °C) in 0–100 min and then dried at higher drying temperature (50–60 °C) to reduce drying time for later drying process in double base gun propellants. The present results can provide theoretical guidance for drying process and optimization of drying parameters for long stick propellants with large web thickness.
