Vaporizing liquid microthruster

Mukerjee, E.V.; Wallace, Andrew P.; Yan, Kin; Howard, Dwight; Smith, Robert L.; Collins, S.D.

doi:10.1016/s0924-4247(99)00389-1

Cited by 83 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…In general, propulsion systems require large weight and size due to the propellant tank, and much further miniaturization is required. However, most state-of-the-art thrusters are not allowed even for Class I microspacecraft, [1][2][3][4] and Class II and III microspacecraft require entirely new types of thrusters.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fundamental Characteristics of a Laser Ablation Microthruster

Koizumi

Inoue

Komurasaki

et al. 2007

Trans. Japan Soc. Aero. S Sci.

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The fundamental characteristics of a laser ablation microthruster were investigated for a 10 kg-class microspacecraft. A single-shot impulse measurement was performed using a thrust stand on which a prototype thruster was installed and the associate ablated mass was estimated from the pressure increase in the space chamber. The best performance of several polymer materials was obtained using polyvinylchloride as the propellant. More heavily carbon doped polyvinylchloride showed higher performance, which means absorption length has a large effect on performance. The intensity of the laser beam on the ablation material was changed using constant laser power, and it was shown that intensity had little effect on the performance. This qualitative behavior agreed with the results of a simple thermal analysis. Mass spectroscopy of the ablation plume showed that the dominant reaction was dehydrochlorination in the range of 470 to 640 K, and the low-temperature reaction resulted in the best performance for polyvinylchloride.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fundamental Characteristics of a Laser Ablation Microthruster

Koizumi

Inoue

Komurasaki

et al. 2007

Trans. Japan Soc. Aero. S Sci.

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“…Nevertheless, future CubeSat missions involving constellation or formation flight will require that the satellites be equipped with a propulsion system that can operate within the stringent resource limitations of the satellite and deliver enough ∆ for their orbital maintenance [3]. There are ongoing research activities in this regard aimed at miniaturizing the space proven and conventional propulsion systems, which can be found in [1,[4][5]. However, scaling of conventional propulsion systems to the size and power limitations of 1 CubeSats, while retaining their operational performances is difficult and complex, and therefore requires the investigation of alternative approaches [6].…”

Section: Iintroductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Demonstration of an Aluminum-Fueled Propulsion System for CubeSat Applications

David

Knoll

2017

Journal of Propulsion and Power

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I.IntroductionHe inherent mass, volume, and power constraints of CubeSats puts a stringent limitation on the resources that can be allocated to the propulsion system without overly detracting from the other subsystems on board [1]. Both Chemical Propulsion (CP) and Electric Propulsion (EP) have been proposed for CubeSat applications, with different key constraints in each case. The limited on-board power restricts the use of highly fuel-efficient EP systems, while the CP systems have scaling related issues and require a larger mass and volume of the 1 CubeSat for equivalent levels of ∆ [2]. Nevertheless, future CubeSat missions involving constellation or formation flight will require that the satellites be equipped with a propulsion system that can operate within the stringent resource limitations of the satellite and deliver enough ∆ for their orbital maintenance [3]. There are ongoing research activities in this regard aimed at miniaturizing the space proven and conventional propulsion systems, which can be found in [1,[4][5]. However, scaling of conventional propulsion systems to the size and power limitations of 1 CubeSats, while retaining their operational performances is difficult and complex, and therefore requires the investigation of alternative approaches [6]. This study considers a CP alternative that utilizes aluminium wool as fuel and a mixture of sodium hydroxide and water as an oxidiser [7]. The novelty over conventional propellant combinations is that the reaction takes place at moderate temperatures and at a slow reaction rate. Additionally, the reactants are low cost, easy to handle and can be stored over a long duration without decomposing.The proposed configuration of the propulsion system shown in Fig. 1, is designed to take about one-third of the volume of a 1 CubeSat. It contains a reaction chamber with a nozzle, a plenum volume, two oxidiser tanks with bladders, two cool gas generators and three Lee extended performance valves (IEP Series with FFKM seal option). Table 1 shows the mass budget of the propulsion system. The total system mass is 126 grams, which is about 10% of a 1 CubeSat. The volume is 10×10×3.25 (see Error! Reference source not found.), which represents about 30% of the total volume of the 1 CubeSat.

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“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Silicon has been used predominantly for fabrication of microneedles, however the fragility and the cost of the microfabrication process are major drawbacks for this material. [1][2][3][4] Injection molding has instead emerged as an alternative fabrication process offering advantages such as cost and robustness. 16,17 Microneedles can offer minimally invasive tools in the field of analytic a l science for example in order to achieve high-density chemical mapping thus to measure chemical heterogeneities in biological systems such as in tissues and organs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%