Catalyst Reactor Bed of Hydrogen Peroxide Decomposition for Upper Stage Motion Control

A 50 N monopropellant thruster being developed for attitude control in a variety of aerospace application systems is described in this paper. Ninety percent hydrogen peroxide was selected as a propellant, since it is much less hazardous than hydrazine. A scaled down thruster with aluminum oxide loaded with the platinum in the reaction chamber was tested to determine propellant decomposition onto a catalyst. A scaled up 50 N thruster, with a catalyst bed of 3 cm in diameter and 4 cm in length, was evaluated by decomposition efficiency based on temperature, ${\eta}_T$, efficiency of characteristic velocity, ${\eta}_{C^*}$, and measurement of thrust. The performance of a 50 N thruster was 40.5 Newton in thrust, about 100 % in ${\eta}_T$, and 98 % in ${\eta}_{C^*}$, and 125 sec in specific impulse at sea level.