Preparation and Performance Evaluation of Platinum Barium Hexaaluminate Catalyst for Green Propellant Hydroxylamine Nitrate Thrusters

Abstract

Spacecraft have monopropellant thruster systems for attitude control in the vacuum of space. Hydroxylamine nitrate is a green propellant that has high performance and low toxicity. Owing to the high adiabatic decomposition temperature of the hydroxylamine nitrate propellant, it is necessary to develop a catalyst with high thermal stability. We used a platinum barium hexaaluminate catalyst for green propellant hydroxylamine nitrate thrusters. Barium hexaaluminate support was prepared by a wet impregnation method and heat treatment. Platinum, the active material, was coated on catalyst supports. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller specific surface was also investigated. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope imagery were used to confirm the formation of barium hexaaluminate. A hydroxylamine nitrate propellant blended with methanol was used for performance evaluation via firing tests of the thruster. The catalytic decomposition performance of each test was evaluated by calculating the characteristic velocity efficiency using the pressure of the chamber at the end of the catalyst bed and the mass flow rate of the propellant. As the catalyst bed was preheated to 350 °C, the characteristic velocity efficiency was 71.9%. Test results revealed that the platinum barium hexaaluminate catalyst is feasible for a hydroxylamine nitrate thruster.