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 degrees 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.