Experimental investigation of N2O decomposition with pd∕al2 o3 cylindrical pellets catalyst

An experimental study on the catalytic decomposition of the nitrous oxide with catalysts based on palladium as active phase on alumina pellets support has been carried out and is presented in this paper, with the aim of inquiring the potentialities of nitrous oxide for space propulsion applications, especially as monopropellant for low-thrust engines. Different tests were carried out, with different system configurations and varying the propellant mass flow rate, to investigate the main dependences of the decomposition efficiency with the characteristic parameters of the system. The results showed that an optimal operating condition exists in terms of the catalytic bed load and the gas hourly space velocity. Finally, a procedure was designed for increasing the catalytic system initial temperature, and a new experimental campaign was carried out, highlighting the effect of the latter parameter on the nitrous oxide decomposition behavior.