Many monopropellant propulsion systems use a catalyst to decompose hydrazine. Problems of catalyst attrition have given rise to various special processes intended to improve catalyst durability. Precalcined and rounded catalysts were evaluated by measurements of mechanical properties and motor firing characteristics. The results were compared to those obtained with the original catalyst. For the conditions tested, no significant differences in performance or in catalyst activity were observed, and only the precalcining process resulted in a reduction in catalyst loss and breakup. Laboratory measurements of porosity and of thermal expansion coefficient indicate that this improvement is probably due to less catalyst shrinkage and to a more open pore structure.
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