Temperature drop analysis of the thruster in a space cryogenic environment

✍ Scribed by Ze-Juan Xiao; Hui-Er Cheng; Hong-Ling Zhou; Rui-Sheng Huang

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 207 KB
• Volume: 36
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1099-2871
• DOI: 10.1002/htj.20144

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Based on the conservation of energy, a coupling heat‐transfer physical model and a set of mathematical equations are put forward to calculate the main components of the thruster, including the capillary injection tube, the aggregate organ, the injection plate, and the bracket when they are exposed to a space cryogenic environment. The typical temperature drop course of a 10N monopropellant thruster has been calculated by this computational model. The calculation results agree well with test data in a vacuum cryogenic simulation experiment performed on the ground. The temperature of the injection tube provides the thermal boundary conditions for the propellant temperature drop calculation while flowing through it. This provided the criterion to judge whether the propellant freezes or not. The upper stage has no air conditioning, so the injection tube is a weak link for the cryogenic reliability work of the thruster. This is considered one of the most important areas of the whole for reliability research. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 36(2): 85–95, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/htj.20144