Ammonium Perchlorate Composite Propellant - Environmental and Other Concerns

Environmental and Other Concerns

The exhaust from APCP solid rocket motors contain mostly water, carbon dioxide, hydrogen chloride, and a metal oxide (typically aluminium oxide). The hydrogen chloride can easily dissociate into water and create corrosive hydrochloric acid, damaging launch equipment and biasing the pH of local water and rainfall (See acid rain). Furthermore, for military use, the smoke trail and the infrared radiation from the hot particles make it possible to detect the launch from space. These problems led to the research in smokeless grain which contains nitrogen-containing organic molecules (e.g. ammonium dinitramide).