DEPSCOR06: A Dispersed Monopropellant Microslug Approach for Discrete Satellite Micropropulsion.

摘要

Miniaturized spacecraft (nanosats) require propulsion systems capable of providing extremely low levels of thrust (1-100 uN) and impulse (1uN sec). We have demonstrated the feasibility of a 'digital' monopropellant propulsion system in which the delivery of the monopropellant is in the form of discrete and dispersed microscopic slugs. By utilizing recent developments in experimental microfluidics, a controlled slug formation process represents a virtual 'self-valving' mechanism which affords finer resolution than a micro- valve for a continuous stream. Through a combination of experiment and computation, we have demonstrated the ability to controllably deliver monopropellant fuel as dispersed droplets leading to a throttling of the flow rate by as much as 50% over a continuous flow. This throttling capability allows impulse bits to be correspondingly reduced. In parallel, microfabrication efforts have produced a novel catalytic micro-reactor prototype for the monopropellant decomposition using ruthernium-oxide nanorods. Finally, extensive computational studies have yielded comprehensive performance information critical to the micro-scale design of efficient supersonic nozzles for incorporation in the propulsion system.