Numerical analysis of a miniaturised cold gas thruster for micro‐ and nano‐satellites

Grm, Aleksander; Grönland, Tor‐Arne; Rodič, Tomaž

doi:10.1108/02644401111109222

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…This paper gives an overview of a novel miniaturized cold gas propulsion module based on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology [16][17][18]. The propulsion module suitable for CubeSat class nanosatellites would satisfy the requirements of mature orbit control as compared to the earlier designs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanosatellite orbit control using MEMS cold gas thrusters

Kvell¹,

Puusepp²,

Kaminski³

et al. 2014

Proc. Estonian Acad. Sci.

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We introduce nanosatellite orbit control using a novel miniaturized cold gas propulsion module based on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. Firstly, the design and characteristics of the propulsion module suitable for CubeSat class nanosatellites are described. Secondly, mission analyses for in-orbit validation of the propulsion module on a 2-unit CubeSat in 300 km low Earth orbit are presented. The MEMS cold gas propulsion module with 10 cm × 10 cm × 3 cm dimensions and 220 g mass is specifically designed for use in CubeSats. In baseline configuration with a tank for 60 g of butane under 2 to 5 bar pressure, it can provide up to 15 m/s delta-V capability for a 2.66 kg satellite. The module includes four individually controllable thrusters with proportional thrust regulation and closed loop control; maximum thrust is 1 mN per thruster with 5 µN thrust resolution. The fully operational satellite with active orbital control is capable of accommodating a 0.64 kg and 10 cm × 10 cm × 7 cm additional payload. The analysed mission scenarios have potential for different Earth observation applications. Natural deorbiting, controlled orbit lowering, controlled orbit raising, and orbit keeping at 300 km altitude are simulated. Simulations indicate that the natural orbit lifetime can be extended from 63 days to 193 days with the baseline propulsion module and satellite altitude can be increased to 348 km or lowered to 257 km. Orbit keeping at 300 km is possible for up to 76 days; proportional thrust control could provide a further increase to 204 days.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanosatellite orbit control using MEMS cold gas thrusters

Kvell¹,

Puusepp²,

Kaminski³

et al. 2014

Proc. Estonian Acad. Sci.

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“…Non-equilibrium effects such as rarefaction and gas-surface interactions have an important influence on fluid mechanics and heat transfer for nano/micro gas flows in nano/micro electronic mechanical systems (NEMS/MEMS). These find many applications in areas such as microprocessor cooling, biomedical analyses, etc., and have led to certain common terminologies such as micropumps, micro-ducts, micro-heat-exchangers and micro-sensors (Mizzi et al , 2007; Grm et al , 2011). Rarefaction effects are present in various NEMS/MEMS devices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of non-equilibrium boundary conditions considering sliding friction for micro/nano flows

Assam

Kalkote

Dongari

et al. 2019

HFF

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Purpose Accurate prediction of temperature and heat is crucial for the design of various nano/micro devices in engineering. Recently, investigation has been carried out for calculating the heat flux of gas flow using the concept of sliding friction because of the slip velocity at the surface. The purpose of this study is to exetend the concept of sliding friction for various types of nano/micro flows. Design/methodology/approach A new type of Smoluchowski temperature jump considering the viscous heat generation (sliding friction) has recently been proposed (Le and Vu, 2016b) as an alternative jump condition for the prediction of the surface gas temperature at solid interfaces for high-speed non-equilibrium gas flows. This paper investigated the proposed jump condition for the nano/microflows which has not been done earlier using four cases: 90° bend microchannel pressure-driven flow, nanochannel backward facing step with a pressure-driven flow, nanoscale flat plate and NACA 0012 micro-airfoil. The results are compared with the available direct simulation Monte Carlo results. Also, this paper has demonstrated low-speed preconditioned density-based algorithm for the rarefied gas flows. The algorithm captured even very low Mach numbers of 2.12 × 10−5. Findings Based on this study, this paper concludes that the effect of inclusion of sliding friction in improving the thermodynamic prediction is case-dependent. It is shown that its performance depends not only on the slip velocity at the surface but also on the mean free path of the gas molecule and the shear stress at the surface. A pressure jump condition was used along with the new temperature jump condition and it has been found to often improve the prediction of surface flow properties significantly. Originality/value This paper extends the concept of using sliding friction at the wall for micro/nano flows. The pressure jump condition was used which has been generally ignored by researchers and has been found to often improve the prediction of surface flow properties. Different flow properties have been studied at the wall apart from only temperature and heat flux, which was not done earlier.

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