Low concentration hydrogen peroxide decomposition inside a minichannel with annual silver catalyst

Hydrogen peroxide is a green propellant which apart from space propulsion is used in various industrial applications. Though hydrazine was used initially, the nature of hydrazine which is a toxic, carcinogenic and hazardous fuel resulted in various space agencies’ interest in green propellants. The essential step for high test peroxide (HTP) as a green mono propellant realization is on development of a reliable, effective, long life catalytic beds which are not affected by catalytic poisoning and impurities. In the present study, a 3D model is developed using COMSOL Multiphysics software to know the catalytic decomposition of 30% hydrogen peroxide flowing inside a 3 mm diameter 300 mm length channel. The effect of annular silver catalyst (I.D – 1.6 mm, O.D. – 2 mm, length 10 mm) on decomposition rate is studied in detail. The positioning of silver catalyst bed and number of beds increased the reaction rate with varying pressure drop. Among the variations simulated, the 4 catalyst model gives the better performance and gets decomposed to a greater extent. This model will help in the design of a micro thruster which can operate efficiently with low pressure drop.