Heat Transfer Analysis of a Catalytic Monopropellant Thruster Under the Influence of Wall Thickness

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Space Science R.G., Astronautic Department, Aerospace Research Institute. Tehran, Iran

2 Ari

Abstract

Thermal control of a space system is essential for optimal performance and mission success. In this paper, the decomposition chamber of a catalytic monopropellant thruster has been numerically simulated at the pore scale. The effect of this wall thickness, 1-5 mm, on radiation heat transfer and conduction has been investigated. The importance of the maximum temperature in the structural considerations of the thruster, on the one hand, and the increase in the weight of the thruster due to the increase in the thickness of the wall to reduce the maximum temperature on the other hand, make the simultaneous evaluation of these parameters inevitable. The results showed that as the thickness of the wall increases, a significant drop up to about three times in the radiation heat flux has occurred. The dominant type of heat transfer in the current problem is conduction. The heat soak back upstream is up to 1000 times greater than the intensity of radiative heat transfer. Increasing the thickness of the wall causes an increase in the heat soak back on the thermal control system. The novelty is to investigate the geometric shape and wall thickness of a catalytic monopropellant thruster on the rate of radiation and conduction heat transfer to the upstream parts.

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References

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Amirkabir Journal of Mechanical Engineering
Volume 56, Issue 10
2025
Pages 1355-1376

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