Feasibility of simple bipropellant blowdown systems

Hearn, H. C.

doi:10.2514/3.28029

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 7 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Helium is assumed to be the pressurant gas since nitrogen involves serious disadvantages for blowdown systems. 2 The solubility of helium in each propellant is an important factor in blowdown systems with surface tension propellant management, and the amount of dissolved gas is expressed as During thruster operation, dissolved gas is expelled along with the propellant, and with blowdown operation gas comes out of solution and into the ullage as pressure decays. Since it is assumed that propellant is used periodically during the mission, an isothermal blowdown with equilibrium solubility is assumed for this study.…”

Section: Propulsion System Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Bipropellant Pressurization Concepts for Spacecraft

Hearn¹

1982

Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

An evaluation of pressurization concepts for bipropellant systems was conducted with an emphasis on demonstrating the technical feasibility of simple systems. A computer model was developed which incorporated thruster characteristics and various pressurization/feed system variables, including pressurant solubility. All the concepts can provide acceptably low propellant residuals, and the available thruster test data indicate that the requirements for blowdown operation can be successfully accommodated. Results of the evaluation show that the relatively simple bipropellant blowdown system, employing tank repressurization for larger propellant loads, should be an attractive alternative to the more complex and costly pressure regulated systems.C,,C 2 m P W w P Nomenclature = gas solubility constants -dissolved gas mass = pressurant gas partial pressure = thruster chamber pressure = initial ullage pressure = thruster inlet pressure = propellant vapor pressure = propellant temperature = initial ullage volume = tank volume = propellant mass = propellant flow rate = propellant density

show abstract

Section: Propulsion System Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%