Preheating characteristics of H2O2 monopropellant thruster using manganese oxide catalyst

Preheating characteristics of hydrogen peroxide monopropellant thruster with manganese oxide catalyst were investigated. Monopropellant thruster requires to preheat a catalyst bed for efficient operation in space environment. Optimum preheating temperature of hydrazine monopropellant thruster was well studied. However, preheating characteristics of 90 wt% hydrogen peroxide monopropellant thruster with manganese oxide catalyst are still a subject to research. For this purpose, a 50 N vacuum thrust class monopropellant thruster was employed. The preheating temperature was from 50 °C to 250 °C in increments of 50 °C, and a test in cold start was included as a control group. Their preheating characteristics were expressed in terms of rising time and pressure instability. The results indicate that a significant improvement in rising time and pressure instability was observed until the preheating temperature reached 150 °C. However, in further preheating temperature, the results showed no noteworthy improvements.