Experimental studies of the plasma-propellant interface for electrothermal-chemical launchers

A plasma-propellant interaction experiment "PIPE" has been constructed to investigate the plasma-propellant interface physics, and plasma augmentation to the propellant burn rate of electrothermal-chemical launchers. The experimental facility consists of an electrothermal plasma source that injects plasma to the surface of solid or liquid propellants. The source is powered by a 340 /spl mu/F Maxwell capacitor (17 kJ at 10 kV, up to 100 kA, 400 /spl mu/s pulse duration) via a pulse forming network. Experiments with JA2 granular solid propellant under vacuum operation (20 Torr base pressure) showed incomplete burn of the propellant. However, the overall chamber pressure is a factor of two higher than that without propellant. Preliminary measurements showed that the burn rate with plasma injection has been increased by a factor of three at a pressure of 0.7 kbar compared to conventional ignition.<
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