US EPA

5929786 

Journal Article 

Aluminum Oxide-Supported Manganese Oxide Catalyst for a 98% Hydrogen Peroxide Thruster 

Surmacz, P; Kostecki, M; Gu, Z; Olszyna, A 

2019 

Yes 

Journal of Propulsion and Power
ISSN: 0748-4658 

35 

3 

614-623 

10.2514/1.B37359 

WOS:000466741000013 

Silica-doped alumina-supported catalyst, containing manganese oxides, doped with cobalt oxide, was prepared in situ by wet impregnation, vacuumdrying, and calcinationat 700 degrees C. Potassiumpermanganateand cobalt nitratewere used as precursors and thermally decomposed. The active phase content was determined by simplemassmeasurement. Subsequently, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, and physical adsorption by Brunauer-Emmet-Teller tests have been carried out to determine the morphology, chemical and phase composition, and specific surface area. The catalyst was subjected to the real-environment testing in a packed catalyst bed of a small rocket engine; 98% hydrogen peroxidewas applied as propellant. At the design stage of a packed catalyst, itwas assumedthat a bedloading variedfrom24.5 to 30 kg/(s.m(2)). The total propellant throughputwas 5.43 kg. After the test campaign, themicroscopic observation of the structure and physisorption were repeated to describe changes in the structure of the active phase. Test parameters and their change in time were analyzed. The influence of structural and chemical changes between fresh and tested catalysts was taken into consideration. The quality of pure carrier and manganese oxides catalyst, for decomposition of 98% hydrogen peroxide, was investigated. A comparison of performance with alumina-supported platinum catalyst was presented and discussed.