Soft-Seal Warm Gas Thruster Valve With Phase-Change Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing thruster systems struggle to provide precise, small impulse bits due to the inability to maintain a low temperature for soft material seals, leading to leaks and inefficient control of gas flow.
Innovation Solution
A thruster system with a heat exchanger using a phase change material to cool gas below a threshold temperature, combined with a control valve featuring a soft material seal, such as AF-E-411, to control gas flow to thrusters, ensuring leak-free operation and precise impulse control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a soft material seal is used in the control valve to prevent leaks, then sealing reliability is improved, but the gas temperature must be maintained below a threshold temperature to prevent seal degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The heat exchanger cools the gas before it reaches the control valve, performing the cooling action in advance to ensure the gas temperature is below the threshold temperature when it contacts the soft material seal, thereby preventing seal degradation while maintaining sealing reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The heat exchanger acts as an intermediary component between the gas source and the control valve, mediating the temperature of the gas to protect the soft material seal from excessive heat while allowing the valve to maintain its sealing function
2Duration of action of stationary object
If the gas is cooled to maintain soft seal integrity, then seal lifespan is improved, but additional cooling components increase device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The heat exchanger utilizes phase change materials that absorb heat during phase transition (e.g., solid to liquid), providing passive cooling without requiring complex active cooling systems, thereby extending seal lifespan while minimizing additional system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The phase change material in the heat exchanger provides self-regulating cooling by absorbing excess heat through phase transition, automatically maintaining gas temperature below the seal threshold without requiring external control systems, thus extending seal lifespan while avoiding complex active cooling infrastructure
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables precise control of impulse bits down to 100 μlbf-sec by maintaining the gas temperature below the soft seal's maximum use temperature, preventing leaks and ensuring zero thrust when off, thus facilitating super-fine impulse control.
Implementation Method 1
The heat exchanger is a phase change material heat sink
Implementation Method 2
The heat exchanger is configured to cool the gas to a temperature below a threshold temperature
Implementation Method 3
a catalyst bed connected with the tank and operable to decompose the liquid propellant and generate a gas
Data Source
AI summary
A thruster system includes a tank for holding liquid propellant, a catalyst bed connected with the tank and operable to decompose the liquid propellant and generate a gas, a plenum connected with the catalyst bed for receiving the gas, a heat exchanger connected with the plenum to cool the gas to a temperature below a threshold temperature and thereby generate a cooled gas, at least one thruster connected with the heat exchanger to receive the cooled gas, and at least one control valve between the heat exchanger and the at least one thruster controlling flow of the cooled gas to the thruster. At least one control valve includes a soft material valve seal.