Measurement of fuel port pressure distribution by exposed solid fuel hydrogen peroxide catalytic decomposition hybrid thruster

Abstract

Although numerous experimental studies on a hybrid thruster have been recently executed, a fuel port pressure was rarely measured because a gap between a fuel and a fuel case is complicated to be sealed due to a fuel port pressure sensor hole. Therefore, the hybrid thruster with an exposed solid fuel was applied to install a fuel port pressure sensor without the fuel case. An exposed solid fuel hydrogen peroxide catalytic decomposition hybrid thruster with PE (PolyEthylene) and PMMA (PolyMethyl MethAcrylate) as fuels, H2O2 as an oxidizer, MnO2/Al2O3 as a catalyst for the oxidizer, 20 bar as a combustion chamber pressure, and 5 s as a burning time was organized. Combustion tests without fuel port pressure sensors to discern an effect of them and with PMMA to visualize a combustion were performed. A fuel port pressure distribution was satisfactorily measured. Three phenomena of four fuel port pressures and a post-combustion chamber pressure in a steady state included an increase at the beginning, a maintenance at the middle, and a decrease at the end induced by a variable oxidizer mass flow rate, a flame generation, and a fuel regression respectively.