Evaluation of Ethanol-Blended Hydrogen Peroxide Monopropellant on a 10 N Class Thruster

Abstract

The evaluation of an ethanol blended hydrogen peroxide monopropellant thruster was carried out. The specific impulse of hydrogen peroxide was increased by blending it with ethanol. Ethanol was selected because it presented no significant problem in terms of storability. An oxidizer-to-fuel ratio of 50 was selected considering the thermal characteristics of the material used and the higher specific impulse that was obtained in comparison to the theoretical specific impulse of hydrogen peroxide. For the thruster material, 316L stainless steel was chosen based on compatibility test results and other considerations. Barium hexaaluminate was used as a catalyst support because the chamber temperature increased owing to the combustion of ethanol. The surface area of barium hexaaluminate was approximately six times higher than that of alumina after heating at 1200°C. Platinum and manganese oxide with lead oxide catalysts were evaluated on a 10 N class thruster and the catalyst capacity, specific impulse, and efficiency characteristic velocity were almost similar. However, the fluctuation of the chamber pressure increased in the case of manganese oxide with lead oxide catalyst. The decomposition performance of both catalysts showed no remarkable difference, but the platinum catalyst was more reliable.Nomenclature C 1 = initial mass fraction of hydrogen peroxide L = characteristic length, m W 1 = mass of propellant before storability test, g W 2 = mass of propellant after storability test, g η C = C efficiency, % η Temp = temperature efficiency, %

Design, fabrication and thrust measurement of a micro liquid monopropellant thruster

“…As blended monopropellant decomposes at high temperature, the thermal resistance of the catalyst support is particularly important. Lee et al [39] reinforced conventional gamma alumina by doping barium and obtained barium hexaaluminate that can maintain mechanical strength and specific surface area up to 1200 °C. We chose platinum as the decomposition catalyst and commercial grade γ-alumina as the catalyst support.…”

Catalytic combustion of methane, methanol, and ethanol in microscale combustors with Pt/ZSM-5 packed beds

“…Most reports on micro combustion of methanol and ethanol were focused on the integrated reforming process including a catalytic combustor [17][18][19][20]. The direct combustion of methanol and ethanol in catalytic combustors were less investigated [21][22][23][24][25]. Applegate et al [23] performed methanol combustion in a catalyst reactor with square channels (0.85 mm  0.05 mm).…”

Evaluating New Liquid Storable Bipropellants: Safety and Performance Assessments

“…Kerosene fuels/HTP have been extensively investigated at University of Purdue [11], at Surrey Space Centre [12], by the Korean KAIST [13,14], and at the Institute of Aviation in Poland [15,16]. Similarly, intense efforts have been put into the development of ethanol/HTP engines, along with the premixed monopropellant counterpart [17]. In Ukraine, a 400 N-class bipropellant rocket engine (AOMP-400) is under development by the Laboratory of Advanced Jet Propulsion (LAJP), using ethanol as fuel [18].…”