Effects of Injector Pressure Drop on the Performance of a Monopropellant Hydrazine Thruster

The effects of injector pressure drop on the performance of a catalytic reactor are studied experimentally. The injectors were simple orifices. Dynamic interactions between the injector and the reactor determine the transient behavior of the system. Results showed that the injector pressure drop affected neither the decomposition reaction efficiency nor the ignition delay time. However, pressure response time increased, and pressure roughness decreased with increasing injector pressure drop. Interestingly, the response time curve had a slope change at a 20% pressure drop. As discussed in the paper, the slope change is a result of cavitation phenomena in high pressure drop. It is concluded that cold injector tests are not enough for injector design validation, and performance tests are necessary tasks.