Watch live today: bluShift Aerospace to launch 1st biofuel rocket from Maine

originally posted by: a325nt

originally posted by: Tulpa
a reply to: Bigburgh

Certainly don't get that with NASA!

Or passing snowmobiles.

NASA doesn't launch up in the county.

For reference Maine is a pretty big place. That far north, we just call it the county.

Sorry. Just being flippant about snowmobiles and f-bombs.

Several relatives of mine are in the states and I know the usual launch sites.
Cheers.

a reply to: gortex

Powered by a non-toxic, carbon-neutral, bio-derived fuel made entirely from materials that can be sourced from farms across America

reading between the lines is the mystery fuel COW CRAP ........??

Sorta like MYTHBUSTERS launching a rocket fueld by Dog Crap

a reply to: Tulpa

Maine is like West Virgina with snow ........

So many people , so few family names .......

a reply to: firerescue

I was just going to say that.

www.youtube.com...

a reply to: pteridine

I looked again and found their website www.blushiftaerospace.com...

"Rocket Engine Type: Hybrid

Fuel: Proprietary, non-toxic, bio-derived solid fuel

TNT Rating of Fuel: 0

Oxidizer: Non-toxic, non-cryogenic pressurized liquid"

I think that they are being coy with their oxidizer description. If it oxidizes biomass it will probably oxidize people.
Thinking about liquid oxidizers that would not produce toxic gases, 70+% H2O2 comes to mind, although partial combustion would generate some aldehydes, ketones, and carboxylic acids. H2O2 is nasty stuff in such high concentrations and getting any on anything carbonaceous, including human flesh, is a bad idea. The configuration of the fuel charge would be important so as to have a good burn. This likely isn't a pile of sawdust; maybe a bio-derived polymer/starch cast in a cruciform cross section or somehow mixed in a combustion chamber.

Most hybrids like Virgin Galatic use Nitrous oxide, N2O as oxidizer Sometimes mixed with nitric oxides

Anothe "biofuel" is turpentine made by disting pine resins, often from waste materials or stumps

France used it in number of experimental rockets in early 1960's Recently startup company built motor using
turpentime with IWFNA (inhibited White Fuminhg Nitric Acid), basicly 97 % nitric acid with 2 % water, small amount of free nitric oxides and ,6 % Hydrogen flouride as corrosion inhibitor, Hypergolic with turpentine
Often mixed with gasoline as only need 20-25% turpentine to make it hypergolic

Sugar rocket