Hydrogen Peroxide Power Sources

Scientists at the US Navy’s Airframe, Ordnance and Propulsion Division at China Lake are developing self-contained power sources based on novel heterogeneous catalysts that provide more effective decomposition of high-strength hydrogen peroxide.

More than 50 years ago, an aircraft was flown using hydrogen peroxide as a propellant. Since then, decomposing hydrogen peroxide has been used for motive power in torpedoes, missiles, and even the Mercury spacecraft. Lighter, more efficient, and lower cost technologies for releasing the chemical energy of hydrogen-peroxide make them suitable for use in a variety of power sources.

Applications include light-weight power generators for recreational or emergency uses; power sources for surface and submersible water craft; and, because water and oxygen are the only decomposition products, any other application where an environmentally clean power source is required.

Today, researchers at China Lake are investigating heterogeneous catalysts for high-strength hydrogen peroxide decomposition. In contrast to the traditional approaches employing macroscopic metallic and ceramic catalyst screens, researchers are examining inexpensive, lightweight, high-surface-area catalyst packs. Extensive work has been done on the synthesis, characterization, and evaluation of catalyst beds, as well as on the effects of valence state and cation type on catalyst activity.

In a parallel effort, military applications for decomposing hydrogen peroxide are being studied. These areas include projectile propulsion, electrical power generation, and small-vehicle propulsion (using either turbine systems or direct thrust). The table below, for example, compares calculated thermodynamic performance in three combustion cases, based on Stirling cycle heat engine, with calculated performance for a peroxide turbine and a peroxide thruster