Thermodynamic Properties of Hydroxylammonium Nitrate-Based Electric Solid Propellant Plasma

Electric solid propellants are advanced solid chemical rocket propellants controlled by electric current. An electric solid propellant may also be used in an electric propulsion system: specifically, an ablative pulsed plasma thruster. Previous experiments with the electric solid propellant known as...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of thermophysics and heat transfer 2020-07, Vol.34 (3), p.522-529
Main Authors: Glascock, Matthew S, Drew, Patrick D, Rovey, Joshua L, Polzin, Kurt A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ablation
Carbon dioxide
Composition
Electric propulsion
Enthalpy
HAN-based propellants
Hydroxylammonium nitrate
Low temperature
Polytetrafluoroethylene
Propulsion systems
Pulsed plasma thrusters
Rocket propellants
Solid propellants
Thermodynamic properties
Vapors
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Summary:Electric solid propellants are advanced solid chemical rocket propellants controlled by electric current. An electric solid propellant may also be used in an electric propulsion system: specifically, an ablative pulsed plasma thruster. Previous experiments with the electric solid propellant known as high-performance electric propellant, or HIPEP, suggest its ablation processes are similar to the traditional propellant polytetrafluoroethylene (C2F4). Better understanding of the ablation and the resulting propulsion performance of HIPEP requires a model of its vapor composition, bulk plasma quantities, and thermodynamic properties. Such a model was developed and favorably compared with previous analogous model predictions found in the literature for C2F4. The electric solid propellant vapor composition was predicted in the temperature range of 500–40,000 K at 1 bar pressure. Low temperatures (less than 2000 K) were dominated by water (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), and molecular nitrogen (N2), with results at 700 K matching to within 10% of the previous combustion model predictions. At high temperatures (greater than 25,000 K), the vapor was strongly ionized and dominated by carbon (C2+), oxygen (O2+), nitrogen (N2+), and hydrogen (H+) ions. The calculated enthalpy and specific heat were higher for high performance electric propellant (HIPEP) vapor than C2F4, suggesting increased thermal losses could be inherent to ablation-controlled HIPEP discharges.
ISSN:1533-6808
0887-8722
1533-6808
DOI:10.2514/1.T5921