Performance Characteristics of a DME Propellant Arcjet Thruster

Kakami, Akira; Beeppu, Shinji; Maiguma, Muneyuki; Tachibana, Takeshi

doi:10.2322/tastj.10.pb_1

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 8 publications

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“…Similar problems with oxidation and carbon deposition recently occurred at Osaka IT (Masuda et al , 2011) and at Kyushu IT (Kakami et al , 2011) where hydroxyl ammonium nitrate (HAN) respectively dimethylether (DME) were investigated to replace toxic hydrazine propellants. For HAN, erosion is a major problem and thrust efficiency is negligibly small.…”

Section: Overview Of Arcjet Power Classesmentioning

confidence: 73%

Overview of thermal arcjet thruster development

Wollenhaupt¹,

Le²,

Herdrich³

2018

AEAT

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Purpose This paper aims to provide an overview of current and historical arcjet development. The reviewed arcjets are considered with respect to both design and thruster relevant parameters. Correspondingly, the paper enables the identification of adequate design criteria and of the probable thruster parameters. Design/methodology/approach The approach consists of a database for thruster relevant parameters in conjunction with relevant operational requirements (such as type of propellant) and specific design criteria (such as e.g. propellant injection systems). Findings The synopsis of both operational parameter and respectively assigned design allows for the derivation of development approaches for arcjets under given high level requirements such as power regime. Research limitations/implications The paper is a general review. However, its strength is in the synthesis of the arcjet classification, the functional evidence of design criteria and the application scenario. Practical implications Not only basic but also specific design criteria are analyzed and evaluated leading to a recommendation feature of the paper with respect to the overall design of adequate arcjets. Social implications Within the scope of the Clean Space initiative, new applications and scenarios from the operation of arcjets arise enabling EOL phases of spacecraft that fulfill respective levels of debris mitigation and, in addition, the requirements concerning the adequately adapted re-entry of spacecrafts that are at end of life. Originality/value The paper is a general review. However, its strength is in the synthesis of the arcjet classification, the functional evidence of design criteria and the application scenario.

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Section: Overview Of Arcjet Power Classesmentioning

confidence: 73%

Overview of thermal arcjet thruster development

Wollenhaupt¹,

Le²,

Herdrich³

2018

AEAT

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Influence of Injector for Performance of N<sub>2</sub>O/DME Bipropellant Thruster

Asakura

Hayashi

Yano

et al. 2018

AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY JAPAN

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This paper describes the performance of a proposed bipropellant thruster using nitrous oxide (N2O) and dimethyl ether (DME). Conventionally, nitrogen tetroxide and hydrazine are used in thrusters for spacecraft, but requires gas treatment systems in the ground tests due to toxicity and reactivity to materials. Hence, we proposed to apply N2O and DME to a bipropellant thruster in order to develop a compact and eco-friendly bipropellant thruster. N2O and DME, which are liquefied gas, are neither toxic nor reactive to materials, and require no gas treatment system in the ground tests. Furthermore, the combustion chamber can be downsized because gaseous injection can eliminate the evaporation time. The application vapor pressures of 6.4 MPa (N2O) and 0.6 MPa (DME) at 25 °C to self-pressurization would eliminate the necessity of pressurant to simplifies the feeding systems. In this study, a 0.4-N class N2O/DME bipropellant thruster with two types of injector was prototyped, and tested in a vacuum chamber to clarify the dependence of injector design on characteristic velocity (C * ) efficiency. Using an injector consisting of showerhead and subsequent 15-mm orifice, the thruster yields combustion chamber pressure of 0.27 MPa, with corresponding C * efficiency of 68.3 % at O/F = 3.5.

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Performance Characteristics of a DME Propellant Arcjet Thruster

Cited by 2 publications

References 8 publications

Overview of thermal arcjet thruster development

Overview of thermal arcjet thruster development

Influence of Injector for Performance of N<sub>2</sub>O/DME Bipropellant Thruster

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