Solar thermal propulsion status and future

Shoji, J. M.; Frye, Patrick; McClanahan, James A.

doi:10.2514/6.1992-1719

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…T Interestingly, previous solar thermal propulsion research efforts have also noted the possibility of utilizing boron and silicon as a phase change materials (PCM). [14][15][16][17] However, development has been limited to brief conceptual studies often citing schedule constraints and the uncertainty of developing an entirely new technology as the reason for selecting sensible heat storage materials. For the present work, boron is identified as the ideal far-term storage material due to an extremely high heat of fusion and a melting temperature close to the optimal performance point for an ammonia based STP rocket.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Investigation of Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage for Bi-Modal Solar Thermal Propulsion

Gilpin

Scharfe

Young

et al. 2014

12th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Investigation of Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage for Bi-Modal Solar Thermal Propulsion

Gilpin

Scharfe

Young

et al. 2014

12th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference

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“…This promising feature has led the United States Air Force (USAF) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to develop STP for orbit transfer vehicles (OTVs), doubling the geostationary orbit (GEO) mission payload capability. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] A vital component in STP is the thruster, which is made of refractory metals such as tungsten, rhenium, tantalum, and molybdenum or advanced high-temperature ceramics because of the high propellant temperature involved -up to 3,000 K. 6,7) The USAF is developing an integrated solar upper stage (ISUS) and integrated high payoff rocket propulsion technology (IHPRPT) for a solar orbit transfer vehicle (SOTV) of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). 8,9) Tungsten, used for the thruster in conventional SOTVs concepts and experiments, however, becomes brittle due to recrystallization at high temperatures, as has also been reported for a DC arcjet nozzle of pure tungsten after operation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Single-Crystal Molybdenum Solar Thermal Propulsion Thruster

Sahara¹,

Watanabe²,

Shimizu³

et al. 2003

Trans. Japan Soc. Aero. S Sci.

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We detail the design, fabrication, and experimental and calculation results for three cavity solar thermal propulsion (STP) thrusters -medium, small, and very small -made of single-crystal molybdenum (SC-Mo), developed in the National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan (NAL). We obtained very high temperatures -2,300 K for the propellant gas and 2,200 K on the outer surface of the thruster -at an appropriate propellant flow with the small thruster by solar-heating with a suitable concentrator of 1.05 m in diameter, which corresponds to an 800-second-class specific impulse thruster. Temperatures obtained in experiments were much lower than expected, however. To find points for improvement and evaluate thruster performance in space, we conducted a model calculation that confirmed the thruster could achieve an 800 to 900-second-class specific impulse with a 0.1-2 N class thrust magnitude in space. STP is thus a candidate for near-future propulsion in applications such as upper stages of orbit transfer vehicles.

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