ISRO making green propellant

ISRO making green propellant

ISRO; Science and technology

News:

  1. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) seeks to replace hydrazine fuel with an environmental-friendly propellant to power satellites and spacecrafts

Important Facts:

  1. ISRO is working to replace hydrazine with hydroxylammonium nitrate based (HAN) monopropellant
  2. Monopropellant is a chemical propulsion fuel which does not require separate oxidizer. It is used in satellite thrusters for orbital correction and orientation control
  3. Advantages of using Hydrazine
  • High performance characteristics:  one of the highest specific impulses (kilogram of thrust obtained by consumption of 1 kg of propellant in 1 sec). Therefore, despite hazards, has been preferred as propellant.

Disadvantages of using Hydrazine:

  • Highly corrosive
  • Carcinogenic and Toxic
  • Storage and handling issues
  1. The HAN-based monopropellant has been formulated by researchers at Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC)
  2. The formulation consists of HAN, ammonium nitrate, methanol and water
  3. Advantages Of HAN-based Propellants over Hydrazine Propellants:
  • Less toxic than hydrazine
  • Performance: Higher density (1.4 to 1.5 g/cm3) than hydrazine propellants (1.0g/cm3)
  • Safety: Non-combustible, hence, a safer alternative
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