Megabar corporation has developed a continuous process for the manufacture of energetic materials comprising oxidizing salts and hydrocarbon fuels combined in the molten state. The process appears to have significant advantages in the manufacture of solid rocket propellants, since it is capable of achieving high solids loadings without resort to mechanical grinding, and since appropriate binders can be continuously incorporated in the: fuel phase without batch mixing. While the process has been employed in the production of explosives, no work has been done to determine the adaptability of the process to the production of propellants which have typically higher viscosities and which require the incorporation of dry metallic powders. The proposed program will identify process and formulation variables affecting production rates and measure the effect on product stability.
