Response characteristics of H2O2 monopropellant thrusters with MnO2-mixed PbO catalyst

Abstract

As environmental concerns increase, rocket-grade hydrogen peroxide has been considered as one of the candidates for replacing toxic propellants. Various components for the development of monopropellant thrusters using hydrogen peroxide have been studied, including catalysts, catalytic supports, and design parameters in monopropellant thrusters. As a part of these efforts, an experimental investigation, including design parameters, for a catalyst bed is performed with MnO2-mixed PbO catalysts in a hydrogen peroxide monopropellant thruster. In addition to basic performance of the monopropellant thruster, the response characteristics of rising time and tail-off time are compared with respect to two different catalysts. From the experimental results, it is found that a catalyst with high reactivity is much more preferable for reducing not only rising time but also tail-off time. Tail-off time in case of MnO2-mixed PbO is considerably shortened compared to that of MnO2. Moreover, design parameters, such as catalyst capacity and catalyst bed loading, for designing a catalyst bed in a monopropellant thruster can be suggested from an analysis of all experimental results.