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Electrolysis Propulsion Provides High- Performance, Inexpensive, Clean Spacecraft Propulsion An electrolysis propulsion system consumes electrical energy to decompose water into hydrogen and oxygen. These gases are stored in separate tanks and used when needed in gaseous bipropellant thrusters for spacecraft propulsion. The propellant and combustion products are clean and nontoxic. As a result, costs associated with testing, handling, and launching can be an order of magnitude lower than for conventional propulsion systems, making electrolysis a cost-effective alternative to state-of-the-art systems. The electrical conversion efficiency is high (>85 percent), and maximum thrust-to-power ratios of 0.2 newtons per kilowatt (N/kW), a 370-sec specific impulse, can be obtained. A further advantage of the water rocket is its dual-mode potential. For relatively high thrust applications, the system can be used as a bipropellant engine. For low thrust levels and/or small impulse bit requirements, cold gas oxygen can be used alone. An added innovation is that the same hardware, with modest modifications, can be converted into an energy- storage and power-generation fuel cell, reducing the spacecraft power and propulsion system weight by an order of magnitude. In a cooperative NASA Lewis Research Center, Hamilton Standard, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory effort, an electrolysis propulsion testbed was assembled. It consisted of a gravity-fed percolating water electrolysis system, storage tanks for hydrogen and oxygen with a volume ratio of approximately 2:1, and a 1.1-N rhenium/iridium high-temperature, oxidation-resistant temperature thruster. The feed system was designed to operate in a blowdown mode in order to limit weight and complexity. Calibrated flow venturis determined the propellant mass flow rates. The testbed was installed in a high-altitude simulation chamber for cycle testing, as shown in the following photo.PDF Image | Electrolysis Spacecraft Propulsion
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