Imidazole-Based Ionic Liquid Ferrofluid Chemical Propellant Analysis
Department
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Major
Aerospace Engineering
Research Advisor
Rovey, Joshua L.
Advisor's Department
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Funding Source
NASA-Missouri Space Grant Consortium
Abstract
This project evaluated the potential of ionic liquids ferrofluids (ILFFs) as chemical propellants, since these liquids already indicate increased performance for electrospray thrusters. The NASA Chemical Equilibrium with Applications (CEA) code was used to predict specific impulses and combustion products of Bmim[NO3]-based and Emim[EtSO4]-based ionic liquids with varied amounts of iron oxide additions, assuming typical monopropellant spacecraft thruster values for the chamber pressure, 300 psi, and expansion ratio, 50. It was observed that as iron oxide was added to the mixtures, the specific impulses dropped significantly, proving to be an important consideration if the gains from hardware simplicity are not as significant as the propellant mass efficiency. However, the product species changed insignificantly, indicating that the iron oxide particles are not consumed in the reaction but act more as a catalyst, as predicted. Analysis of additional testing will be assessed further, pending results from the final experiments.
Biography
Brynne Coleman is a Senior in Aerospace Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology, and after graduating in December of 2014 with a minor in Mathematics, she will continue her studies as a graduate student at S&T.
Research Category
Engineering
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Document Type
Poster
Location
Upper Atrium/Hall
Presentation Date
16 Apr 2014, 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Imidazole-Based Ionic Liquid Ferrofluid Chemical Propellant Analysis
Upper Atrium/Hall
This project evaluated the potential of ionic liquids ferrofluids (ILFFs) as chemical propellants, since these liquids already indicate increased performance for electrospray thrusters. The NASA Chemical Equilibrium with Applications (CEA) code was used to predict specific impulses and combustion products of Bmim[NO3]-based and Emim[EtSO4]-based ionic liquids with varied amounts of iron oxide additions, assuming typical monopropellant spacecraft thruster values for the chamber pressure, 300 psi, and expansion ratio, 50. It was observed that as iron oxide was added to the mixtures, the specific impulses dropped significantly, proving to be an important consideration if the gains from hardware simplicity are not as significant as the propellant mass efficiency. However, the product species changed insignificantly, indicating that the iron oxide particles are not consumed in the reaction but act more as a catalyst, as predicted. Analysis of additional testing will be assessed further, pending results from the final experiments.
