Numerical modeling and parametric analysis of performance of a monopropellant thruster using a single-part catalyst bed model

Monopropellant hydrazine thruster, depending on their thrust level, specific impulse, and unique functional regime, are widely used in situation control, orbital transmission, and position correction systems of satellites. In these thrusters, hydrazine decomposes by passing through the catalyst bed in a highly exothermic reaction to hot gas products. Hot gases generate thrust force by passing through a convergent-divergent nozzle. Pore scale analysis of catalytic reactions is very common in various industries and is of interest to researchers due to its accuracy. In this paper, the decomposition chamber of a monopropellant hydrazine thruster is numerically simulated with a single-part bed model at the pore-scale. The length of decomposition chamber was 2.48 cm. Then the effects of parameters such as catalyst granule diameter, catalyst bed porosity coefficient and also chamber inlet pressure on the performance of the decomposition chamber and thruster are investigated. Simulations have been performed for catalyst granules with diameters of 0.88, 1.00 and 1.15 mm in three porosity coefficients of 0.4, 0.55 and 0.65. The inlet pressure is also changed from 10 to 25 bar in four different levels. The results showed that the porosity coefficient is the most effective parameter and with its decrease, the specific impulse and temperature rise, while the thrust force and mass flow rate intensify. Also, the size of the catalyst granules affects the performance of the bed and thruster so that by increasing it (at a certain porosity coefficient), a trend similar to the effect of decreasing the porosity coefficient can be seen in the results. On the other hand, with enhancing inlet pressure, the thrust force increases significantly. In this paper, the effect of bed parameters on the thruster performance is discussed in detail, which contains helpful results for researchers that work on improving the decomposition chamber efficiency.

Automated summary

In this study, the decomposition chamber of a monopropellant hydrazine thruster is numerically simulated, and the effects of parameters such as catalyst granule diameter, catalyst bed porosity coefficient, and inlet pressure on the performance are investigated. The results show that the porosity coefficient is the most influential parameter, and decreasing it improves the specific impulse and temperature while enhancing the thrust force and mass flow rate. The size of the catalyst granules and the inlet pressure also have an impact on the performance.