Amine
Launch vehicle
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
Early storable rocket systems sought to improve ignition characteristics and performance by eliminating the kerosene portion of the fuel. An amine is an organic compound produced when one or more hydrogen atoms of ammonia is replaced with organic groups. Mixed amine fuels were first developed by the Germans in World War II. TONKA-250, developed for the Wasserfall rocket, was used by the Russians after the war in various engines under the specification TG-02.
TONKA-259 was 50% xylidine and 50% triethylamine by weight. In the United States the preferred amine was aniline, an organic base belonging to the phenylamines. In this case it was an ammonia in which one hydrogen atom was replaced by the radical phenyl. Other US fuels in the family included Hydyne.