ANCP with R45HT or R20LM binder is easily produced without need for vacuum unlike some faster APCP formulations (containing CuO, Mg etc.).
Advantages:
AN is much less sensitive to impacts than AP and generally safer to use.
AN is environmentally safe.
AN is commonly available.
AN is cheaper than AP.
Long-burn sustainers are easier to produce.
Disadvantages:
AN is hygroscopic and must be kept dry. Baking the AN at 150 deg and mixing it while
warm is useful to keep moisture at a minimum and density high.
ANCP must be kept dry during production and storage. (However, very long term
storage is possible in heat sealed plastic bags.)
Phase stabilized AN should be used if long term storage is contemplated with temperature
cycling through about 90 deg F.
ANCP has a lower density than APCP and usually requires one case size larger for the same
weight of propellant.
ANCP is more viscous during production.
AN requires Mg instead of Al and Mg is more expensive than Al.
ANCP is a little more difficult to light than APCP.
Slower pressurization may be a factor for heavy rockets and accelerometer based altimeters
requiring kick (rapid onset of acceleration - high rate of change of acceleration).
ANCP propellant has lower burn rates than APCP. Therefore, to produce comparable thrust, several measures must be taken.
increasing the surface area by shortening the Bates Grains to increase the burning surface area.
increasing the Kn by allowing slightly increased pressures to increase the ISP
using 1000 mesh Mg
using a high metal content
decreasing oxidizer particle sizes
using a good curative such as Mondur MR will allow the amount of binder/curative to be kept low
Optionally, a small amount of burn rate enhancer may be utilized. Use of a small amount of AP (i.e. 5% 90 micron AP + .5% CuO) with the AN is one very effective method of increasing burn rate in ANCP. Others additives exist but have drawbacks i.e. use of carcinogenic Potassium Dichromate. Most common AP burn rate accelerants are ineffective for AN. The author is aware of (but has not experimented with) use of metal wire to increase the burn rate in ANCP grains.
With advances in binder/curatives and the above steps, optimized ANCP propellant with a specific impulse similar to or even exceeding that of typical commercial APCP hobby motors can easily be produced. However, if you need higher specific impulses or higher thrust for heavy rockets or boosters in multi-stage rockets, then optimized APCP would be more suitable.