Highlights Solar thermal propulsion system combined with thermal energy storage is proposed to overcome thrust failure in shadow area. The whole process from light concentrating, heat storage, to trust generation is numerically investigated and verified by ground tests. The time to complete heat storage is within the illumination time of low Earth orbit. Thrust and specific impulse can achieve 2 N and 691 s respectively in solar eclipse region.
Abstract Possessing relatively high specific impulse and moderate thrust levels, solar thermal propulsion (STP) is a promising candidate in spacecraft propulsion system. However, the traditional solar thermal propulsion system suffers from thrust failure in the shadow area, which seriously affects its applicability. In this paper, we investigate feasibility of regenerative solar thermal propulsion system (RSTP) incorporating thermal energy storage, which can effectively overcome unmatched synchronous working time and illumination time. A numerical model for RSTP considering the whole energy transfer process from light concentrating, heat storage, to thrust generation is built, which is verified by experiment measurements with relative errors less than 15 %. The result shows that the maximum time to complete heat storage is about 4000 s, which is within the illumination time for low Earth orbit. In the solar eclipse region, the thrust (Ft) and the specific impulse (Isp) of the system increase with the propellant flow rate, which can reach about 2 N and 690 s, respectively. What’s more, the system can operate for around 100 s continuously at the maximum thrust in the shadow area. This work provides alternative approaches for microsatellite propulsion with high specific impulse, high thrust, and continuous operation despite presence of solar eclipse.
Feasibility analysis of solar thermal propulsion system with thermal energy storage
Advances in Space Research ; 71 , 5 ; 2493-2508
2022-10-25
16 pages
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch