Study On The Capability Of Laser-Powered Heat Exchanger Thruster And The Launch System Project

Heat-eXchanger-based laser propulsion is a particular concept which was advanced at the research on laser propulsion in recent years. The key component of this mode is the heat exchanger with liquid hydrogen. This paper has researched on the performances of heat transfer and flow in the heat exchanger, the collective vehicle project and the performance of launch system about this concept.The concept and capability of laser-powered nano-sat launch system were studied. The paper has founded the model of laser transmission in launch process and the movement model of laser-powered vehicle, and has analyzed the influence on performance of launch system, which was raised by some factors, for instance, the performance of thruster, the attenuation in transmission, the height of mode-transform, the laser power, the air drag force, the launch height, and so on .The paper has analyzed the performances of heat transfer and flow in the heat exchanger, founded the one-dimension model for heat transfer and flow in the microchannel, fit the hydrogen state and thermodynamic equations in the range of heat exchanger status, analyzed the influence which were raised by inlet flow parameters and structure parameters on the parameters in microchannel at the stable status. The result showed that it is the important principle for the design of the structure of heat exchanger and the work parameters to control flow velocity. In this model, the velocity was controlled below50 m /s so that it is easy that the temperature of outlet propellant exceeds 1000K. By the measure of advancing the melting point of metal panel to 3000K, the temperature of outlet propellant even could be close to the very high temperature of the metal panel. It is very active to improve the capability of the whole propulsion system.Finally, the system project of HX-based thruster vehicle was researched. The improved vehicle model was introduced, and the launch project was evaluated. The results showed that the thrust-weight ratio reached 1.04 for the launch weight 5400kg in the condition of specific impulse near 600s. To optimize specific impulse to 700s or 800s, the thrust-weight ratio could be improved to 1.23 or 1.41, it is enough to achieve the launch requirement for this vehicle. So the conclusion is that the launch project for improved vehicle is feasible. In addition, the project of controlling temperature of metal panel was raised with the study of effect mechanism between laser beam and metals.