UDMH and Rocket Fuel Production

[TechLord22]

Details

This processing chain is used for producing UDMH, Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine (aka 1,1-dimethylhydrazine), which is used as rocket fuel.

Products

Main Product: UDMH
Side Product(s): None

Steps

2 Chlorine (g) + 6 Sodium Hydroxide (s) + Water (l) -> 1000L Salt Water (l) + 1000L Bleach (l)
2Cl (g) + 2NaOH (s) + H2O (l) -> NaCl (aq) + NaClO (aq) + 2H2O (l)

Ammonia (g) + Bleach (l) -> Monochloramine (g) + 3 Sodium Hydroxide (s) + Water (l)
NH3 (g) + NaClO (aq) + H2O (l) -> NH2Cl (g) + NaOH (s) + H2O (l)
This is the first step in the Olin-Raschig Process for production of Hydrazine.

2 Methanol (l) + Ammonia (g) -> Dimethylamine (g) + Water (l)
2CH3OH (l) + NH3 (g) -> (CH3)2NH (g) + 2H2O (l)

Monochloramine (g) + Dimethylamine (g) -> Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine (l) + Hydrogen Chloride (g)
NH2Cl (g) + (CH3)2NH (g) -> (CH3)2NNH2 (l) + HCl (g)

UDMH uses NTO and IRFNA as an oxidizer in a bipropellant rockets.

2 Nitrogen Dioxide (g) -> Nitrogen Tetroxide (NTO) (l)
2NO2 (g) -> N2O4 (l)
This step is performed at below 262K.

850L Nitric Acid (aq) + 150L NTO (l) -> 1000L Red Fuming Nitric Acid (RFNA) (aq) (mixer)

990L RNFA (aq) + 10L Hydrofluoric Acid (aq) -> 1000L Inhibited Red Fuming Nitric Acid (IRFNA) (aq) (mixer)

UDMH (l) + NTO (l) -> 2 Rocket Fuel (l) (mixer)
UDMH (l) + IRFNA (aq) -> 3 Rocket Fuel (l) (mixer)

Yield

1 Methanol + 0.5 Ammonia + 1 Nitrogen Dioxide -> 1 Rocket Fuel
2 Methanol + 1 Ammonia + ~2.15 Nitrogen Dioxide + ~0.85 Nitric Acid + 0.01 Hydrofluoric Acid -> 3 Rocket Fuel

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monochloramine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethylamine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsymmetrical_dimethylhydrazine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinitrogen_tetroxide
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_fuming_nitric_acid