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Green Hydrazine Propellant Blend (GHPB-ACO)
Completed
Description
Development of a green propellant blend as a hydrazine replacement.
A novel new approach to green monopropellants recently discovered at Aerojet Rocketdyne promises to greatly enhance the ability of NASA to affordably and quickly implement capabilities necessary for human exploration to the Moon, Mars and other destinations. A combination of green ionic liquid and conventional hydrazine, these “green hydrazine blends” provide the low vapor-toxicity and high density-specific impulse of ionic liquids while retaining the low flame and preheat temperatures of conventional hydrazine technologies.
Aerojet Rocketdyne will increase the Technology Readiness Level for a new high performance, green propellant blend. AR will hot-fire test this new propellant iof a 1N thruster in order to characterize operation at two different thrust levels and thruster designs. These thrust levels bracket all thrust classes of immediate interest to the commercial sector. The 1N hot-fire test will use an existing AR MR-103G thruster developed for hydrazine operation. Hot-fire testing will be conducted at Purdue Zucrow Labs and Aerojet Rocketdyne.
Following the initial propellant characterization, AR will conduct a full qualification test of the heritage MR-103G thruster operating on this newpropellant. Aerojet Rocketdyne will develop high-volume manufacturing process methods (potentially leading to significant cost savings compared to high-purity hydrazine.) AR will also perform standard tests required for the Department of Transportation's classification and certification; this effort is planned to be conducted in collaboration with the Air Force Research Lab, Edwards AFB.
NASA will determine propellant properties for the various formulations. Density, acoustic velocity, and gas absorption measurements are identical to work performed in support of the Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM). Vapor pressure will be measured with a Draeger sensor. Contact angle and viscosity will be measured with a Ramé-Hart Model 250 goniometer/tensiometer procured for GPIM and compared to other propellants.
NASA will expose titanium flight samples to propellant and perform tensile testing to determine stress corrosion cracking (SCC) properties. These tests are identical to work done for LMP-103S. A single propellant mixture will be tested for SCC properties.
NASA will employ new compatibility protocols developed for GPIM. The protocol uses many smaller samples processed simultaneously, a significant advantage over state of the art techniques. Small test tubes with precisely machined covers with pressure sensors and innovative septa for liquid withdrawals are used to determine compatibility.
NASA will test a system similar to GPIM with flight-rated hardware to characterize system performance with the new propellant. Existing flight hardware from the GPIM testing will be used.
Benefits
This project will reduce toxicity and allow reduced handling costs, while maintaining performance and the use of heritage components.Newly discovered green hydrazine propellant blends yield a 100-fold decrease in vapor toxicity and ~30% increase in density-Isp while preserving the low reaction and preheat temperatures of conventional hydrazine. The ability of green hydrazine blends to operate in heritage monopropellant thrusters provides an affordable near-term path to increased safety and performance for NASA SmallSats supporting human exploration missions.By developing a new safe green propellant that can be used in existing monopropellant engines and propulsion systems, AR has created a path to achieve NASA’s human exploration goals using the same family of flight-proven monopropellant thrusters that have contributed to the unequaled success of all of NASA’s science exploration missions. Eliminating the considerable cost and time that would be required to fully replace the broad range of capabilities currently met by high-TRL heritage propulsion products, green hydrazine propellant blends present the most affordable path to safe human exploration.
Details
| Technology area | Propulsion Systems > Chemical Space Propulsion > Earth Storable Propellants |
| Program | Game Changing Development (GCD) |
| Lead organization | Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc., El Segundo, CA |
| Start date | 2021-01-15 |
| End date | 2024-09-30 |
Project contacts
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How to get involved
This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.
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