Methodology for Evaluating Parameters of Gas Valve for Pulsed Plasma Thruster

The paper is devoted to the problem of developing pulsed plasma thrusters operating with gaseous propellant for ultra-small satellites. At present in the world there is rather limited research in the field of use of gaseous propellant for such thrusters; it is related to the difficulty of creating a high-speed, energy-efficient pulsed gas valve. Research and development of such a valve is being carried out at the Moscow Aviation Institute. The paper considers the processes occurring during single actuation of pulse valve designed for a pulsed plasma thruster operating with gaseous propellant. An approximate analytical model is developed to calculate the flow rate through the valve at single actuation. The case of using a "large" receiver and the case of limited volume upstream of the stop unit are considered. The calculated dependencies of the unit flow rate on the stroke of the moving element, on the pressure upstream of the stop unit and on the geometrical parameters of the valve are obtained. A laboratory model of a pulsed gas valve with an open state duration of 100-300 microseconds was developed. Measurements of the nitrogen flow rate through the valve at different values of the response time were made. Good convergence of the developed analytical model with experimental data was obtained. The developed mathematical model can be used in the design of pulse valves intended for propellant feed to pulsed plasma thrusters and plasma injectors.