 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(April 2018) |
During World War II, Germany fielded many aircraft and rockets whose fuels, and oxidizers, were designated (letter)-Stoff (pronounced [ʃtɔf] ). The following list of stoffs refers to the World War II aerospace meanings if not noted otherwise.
The German word Stoff (plural Stoffe), like the English word stuff, derives from Old French estoffe, however the meanings are somewhat different. Stoff has a fairly broad range of meanings, including "chemical substance" or "matter", "fuel" and "cloth", depending on the context. [1] The German names of the common elements hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen are Wasserstoff, Sauerstoff and Stickstoff ("hydrogen" being a scientific Greek neologism for "constituent of water", "oxygen" for "constituent of acids", "nitrogen" for "constituent of nitre", i.e. saltpeter - although the German root stick- is derived from ersticken, "to smother, suffocate", referring to its property of not supporting combustion and respiration). Stoff was used in chemical code names in both world wars. Some code names were reused between the wars and had different meanings at different times; for example, T-Stoff meant a rocket propellant in World War II, but a tear gas (xylyl bromide) in World War I.
 |
Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at seventh in total abundance in the Milky Way and the Solar System. At standard temperature and pressure, two atoms of the element bond to form N2, a colorless and odorless diatomic gas. N2 forms about 78% of Earth's atmosphere, making it the most abundant uncombined element in air. Because of the volatility of nitrogen compounds, nitrogen is relatively rare in the solid parts of the Earth.
Hydrazine is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula N2H4. It is a simple pnictogen hydride, and is a colourless flammable liquid with an ammonia-like odour. Hydrazine is highly toxic unless handled in solution as, for example, hydrazine hydrate.
A hypergolic propellant is a rocket propellant combination used in a rocket engine, whose components spontaneously ignite when they come into contact with each other.
Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH; 1,1-dimethylhydrazine, heptyl or codenamed Geptil) is a chemical compound with the formula H2NN(CH3)2 that is used as a rocket propellant. It is a colorless liquid, with a sharp, fishy, ammonia-like smell typical for organic amines. Samples turn yellowish on exposure to air and absorb oxygen and carbon dioxide. It is miscible with water, ethanol, and kerosene. In concentration between 2.5% and 95% in air, its vapors are flammable. It is not sensitive to shock. Symmetrical dimethylhydrazine (1,2-dimethylhydrazine) is also known but is not as useful. UDMH can be oxidized in air to form many different substances, including toxic ones.
Monopropellants are propellants consisting of chemicals that release energy through exothermic chemical decomposition. The molecular bond energy of the monopropellant is released usually through use of a catalyst. This can be contrasted with bipropellants that release energy through the chemical reaction between an oxidizer and a fuel. While stable under defined storage conditions, monopropellants decompose very rapidly under certain other conditions to produce a large volume of its own energetic (hot) gases for the performance of mechanical work. Although solid deflagrants such as nitrocellulose, the most commonly used propellant in firearms, could be thought of as monopropellants, the term is usually reserved for liquids in engineering literature.
Dinitrogen tetroxide, commonly referred to as nitrogen tetroxide (NTO), and occasionally (usually among ex-USSR/Russia rocket engineers) as amyl, is the chemical compound N2O4. It is a useful reagent in chemical synthesis. It forms an equilibrium mixture with nitrogen dioxide. Its molar mass is 92.011 g/mol.
Red fuming nitric acid (RFNA) is a storable oxidizer used as a rocket propellant. It consists of 84% nitric acid, 13% dinitrogen tetroxide and 1–2% water. The color of red fuming nitric acid is due to the dinitrogen tetroxide, which breaks down partially to form nitrogen dioxide. The nitrogen dioxide dissolves until the liquid is saturated, and produces toxic fumes with a suffocating odor. RFNA increases the flammability of combustible materials and is highly exothermic when reacting with water.
A propellant is a mass that is expelled or expanded in such a way as to create a thrust or another motive force in accordance with Newton's third law of motion, and "propel" a vehicle, projectile, or fluid payload. In vehicles, the engine that expels the propellant is called a reaction engine. Although technically a propellant is the reaction mass used to create thrust, the term "propellant" is often used to describe a substance which contains both the reaction mass and the fuel that holds the energy used to accelerate the reaction mass. For example, the term "propellant" is often used in chemical rocket design to describe a combined fuel/propellant, although the propellants should not be confused with the fuel that is used by an engine to produce the energy that expels the propellant. Even though the byproducts of substances used as fuel are also often used as a reaction mass to create the thrust, such as with a chemical rocket engine, propellant and fuel are two distinct concepts.
T-Stoff (; 'substance T') was a stabilised high test peroxide used in Germany during World War II. T-Stoff was specified to contain 80% (occasionally 85%) hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), remainder water, with traces (<0.1%) of stabilisers. Stabilisers used included 0.0025% phosphoric acid, a mixture of phosphoric acid, sodium phosphate and 8-oxyquinoline, and sodium stannate.
Hellmuth Walter was a German engineer who pioneered research into rocket engines and gas turbines. His most noteworthy contributions were rocket motors for the Messerschmitt Me 163 and Bachem Ba 349 interceptor aircraft, so-called Starthilfe jettisonable rocket propulsion units used for a variety of Luftwaffe aircraft during World War II, and a revolutionary new propulsion system for submarines known as air-independent propulsion (AIP).
A liquid-propellant rocket or liquid rocket utilizes a rocket engine that uses liquid propellants. Gaseous propellants may also be used but are not common because of their low density and difficulty with common pumping methods. Liquids are desirable because they have a reasonably high density and high specific impulse (Isp). This allows the volume of the propellant tanks to be relatively low. The rocket propellants are usually pumped into the combustion chamber with a lightweight centrifugal turbopump, although some aerospace companies have found ways to use electric pumps with batteries, allowing the propellants to be kept under low pressure. This permits the use of low-mass propellant tanks that do not need to resist the high pressures needed to store significant amounts of gasses, resulting in a low mass ratio for the rocket.
Aerozine 50 is a 50:50 mix by weight of hydrazine and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH), originally developed in the late 1950s by Aerojet General Corporation as a storable, high-energy, hypergolic fuel for the Titan II ICBM rocket engines. Aerozine continues in wide use as a rocket fuel, typically with dinitrogen tetroxide as the oxidizer, with which it is hypergolic. Aerozine 50 is more stable than hydrazine alone, and has a higher density and boiling point than UDMH alone.
The highest specific impulse chemical rockets use liquid propellants. They can consist of a single chemical or a mix of two chemicals, called bipropellants. Bipropellants can further be divided into two categories; hypergolic propellants, which ignite when the fuel and oxidizer make contact, and non-hypergolic propellants which require an ignition source.
The chemical element nitrogen is one of the most abundant elements in the universe and can form many compounds. It can take several oxidation states; but the most common oxidation states are -3 and +3. Nitrogen can form nitride and nitrate ions. It also forms a part of nitric acid and nitrate salts. Nitrogen compounds also have an important role in organic chemistry, as nitrogen is part of proteins, amino acids and adenosine triphosphate.
Ammonium dinitramide (ADN) is the ammonium salt of dinitraminic acid. ADN decomposes under heat to leave only nitrogen, oxygen, and water. The ions are the ammonium ion NH4+ and the dinitramide N(NO2)2−.
The LR87 was an American liquid-propellant rocket engine used on the first stages of Titan intercontinental ballistic missiles and launch vehicles. Composed of twin motors with separate combustion chambers and turbopump machinery, it is considered a single unit and was never flown as a single combustion chamber engine or designed for this. The LR87 first flew in 1959.
Rocket propellant is the reaction mass of a rocket. This reaction mass is ejected at the highest achievable velocity from a rocket engine to produce thrust. The energy required can either come from the propellants themselves, as with a chemical rocket, or from an external source, as with ion engines.
Tetranitratoaluminate is an anion of aluminium and nitrate groups with formula [Al(NO3)4]− that can form salts called tetranitratoaluminates. It is unusual in being a nitrate complex of a light element.
The Walter HWK 109-500 was a liquid-fuelled rocket engine developed by Walter in Germany during the Second World War.
The HWK 109-507 was a liquid-propellant rocket engine developed by Germany during World War II. It was used to propel the Hs 293 anti-ship guided missile.