Sphericity and size optimization of ammonium perchlorate (AP) particles in cooling crystallization process (CCP) based on the Taguchi method: separately and simultaneously.

The sphericity and size of ammonium perchlorate (AP) particles are the most significant properties in composite propellants. In this study, using the Taguchi method, the effects of surfactant type, surfactant concentration, stirring speed, cooling rate, and AP concentration parameters were investigated on the sphericity and size of AP particles in the cooling crystallization process (CCP). The sphericity and size of AP particles were calculated from the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images by microstructure image processing (MIP) technique. The results showed that the selected parameters have sufficient effect on the sphericity and size of AP particles, based on analysis of variance. In this regards, the most effective parameters for sphericity and size optimization are the stirring speed and the surfactant type, respectively. Also, the AP concentration had the least effect on the sphericity and size of AP particles. Based on analysis of variance; the optimum sphericity and size equal to 0.84 and 21 μm, were predicted in CCP for AP particles, separately. Then, the particle sphericity of 0.84 and size of 23 μm was obtained from the suggested experimental optimal conditions. The differences between the predicted and experimental results are 1.7 and 8% for sphericity and size of AP particles, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]