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Experimental Investigation of Ionic Liquid Mixtures for Electrospray Propulsion

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Experimental Investigation of Ionic Liquid Mixtures for Electrospray Propulsion Scholars' Mine Doctoral Dissertations Student Theses and Dissertations Spring 2020 Experimental investigation of ionic liquid mixtures for electrospray propulsion Mitchell J. Wainwright Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/doctoral_dissertations Part of the Aerospace Engineering Commons Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Recommended Citation Wainwright, Mitchell J., "Experimental investigation of ionic liquid mixtures for electrospray propulsion" (2020). Doctoral Dissertations. 2879. https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/doctoral_dissertations/2879 This thesis is brought to you by Scholars' Mine, a service of the Missouri S&T Library and Learning Resources. This work is protected by U. S. Copyright Law. Unauthorized use including reproduction for redistribution requires the permission of the copyright holder. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF IONIC LIQUID MIXTURES FOR ELECTROSPRAY PROPULSION by MITCHELL JOHN WAINWRIGHT A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the MISSOURI UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in AEROSPACE ENGINEERING 2020 Approved by: Dr. David Riggins, Advisor Dr. Joshua Rovey Dr. Henry Pernicka Dr. Kakkattukuzhy Isaac Dr. Benjamin Prince 2020 Mitchell John Wainwright All Rights Reserved iii PUBLICATION DISSERTATION OPTION This dissertation consists of the following three articles, formatted in the style used by the Missouri University of Science and Technology: Paper I: Pages 17-48 has been accepted to the AIAA Journal of Propulsion and Power and published on 24 June, 2019. Paper II: Pages 49-75 are intended for submission to the Journal of Mass Spectrometry. Paper III: Pages 76-89 has been submitted to the AIAA Journal of Propulsion and Power, submitted 3/18/2020. iv ABSTRACT In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of small satellites (namely MicroSats, NanoSats, and CubeSats) in earth orbit; many of these are launched without propulsion systems. Multi-mode propulsion systems, capable of operating in either chemical or electric mode, have been proposed as attractive candidates for use in small satellites. Such systems are mass and volume optimal and flexible in terms of thrust requirements. Most previous work on multi-mode systems has focused on chemical mode performance. The work in this dissertation focuses on the electric mode performance of these propulsion systems. The work in this research is comprised of three separate but related technical papers, each adding insight into the characterization and design of the electrospray (electric) mode of multi-mode propellant systems. The first paper focuses on determining species in the electrospray plume of a specific propellant, composed of 1-ethyl-3- methylimidazolium ethylsulfate ([Emim][EtSO4]) and hydroxylammonium nitrate (HAN), previously optimized for chemical mode performance. This paper shows HAN, a common energetic component, is present in the plume. The second paper identifies how changes in ionic liquid (IL) mixture ratio affects the species present in the plume and shows clear variations in plume species with mixture ratio for [Emim][EtSO4] and ethylammonium nitrate mixtures. The last paper quantifies how non-linearity in physical properties within IL mixtures impacts propellant performance. Predictions assuming linear mixing of properties over-predict emission current and thrust by up to 45% and 20%, respectively, when compared to calculations based on experimental mixture data. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work was an effort supported by many, and it would not have been possible without their support. Much of the support came from university personnel, fellow researchers, funding agencies, family, friends, and sometimes what seemed like divine intervention. I will try to thank everyone either specifically or generally; however, I will inevitably miss someone, so this is by no means an exhaustive list. If I missed you, I am sorry. First, I would like to thank my committee members. Dr. Isaac, Dr. Pernicka, Dr. Prince, Dr. Riggins, and Dr. Rovey, all of whom were instrumental in helping me graduate. Dr. Riggins and Dr. Rovey were especially helpful as my advisors; their guidance, assistance, and encouragement over the course of graduate school was much appreciated. The office of graduate studies was also helpful in providing direction on how to keep track of all the required items needed to graduate. Additionally, their formatting requirements and editing assistance were very valuable and their service was timely and provided valuable feedback that helped improve my writing. Additionally, without their strict requirements this document would have probably been submitted as a stack of whiteboards or the acknowledgements section would have droned on for more than a page (for the full list of acknowledgements section, see Appendix A, Acknowledgements). vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PUBLICATION DISSERTATION OPTION ................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................v LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ...............................................................................................x LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. xi NOMENCLATURE ......................................................................................................... xii SECTION 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1 1.1. IONIC LIQUIDS (OVERVIEW) ....................................................................... 4 1.1.1. A Brief History of Ionic Liquids. ............................................................. 4 1.1.2. Contemporary Propellants. ....................................................................... 5 1.1.3. Double Salt Ionic Liquids......................................................................... 6 1.2. ELECTROSPRAY PROPULSION SYSTEMS ................................................. 8 1.2.1. Stand-Alone Electrospray Propulsion Systems. ....................................... 8 1.2.2. Integrated Multi-Mode Systems. ............................................................ 11 1.3. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................. 14 1.4. OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................... 16 PAPER I. HYDROXYLAMMONIUM NITRATE SPECIES IN A MONOPROPELLANT ELECTROSPRAY PLUME ..................................................................................... 17 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. 17 vii 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 18 2. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP ...................................................................................... 21 2.1. HAN-[Emim]-[EtSO4] MONOPROPELLANT ............................................... 21 2.2. NEAT [Emim][EtSO4] ...................................................................................... 23 2.3. ELECTROSPRAY SOURCE ........................................................................... 24 2.4. QUADRUPOLE MASS SPECTROMETER ................................................... 26 3. RESULTS ................................................................................................................. 26 3.1. NEAT [Emim][EtSO4] ...................................................................................... 27 3.2. HAN-[Emim][EtSO4] MONOPROPELLANT................................................. 30 4. DISCUSSION .......................................................................................................... 35 4.1. MONOMER SPECIES PRESENT IN THE SPECTRA .................................. 35 4.2. PRESENCE OF PROTON-TRANSFER SPECIES ......................................... 37 4.3. SWAPPING OF ANIONS AND CATIONS IN THE MONOPROPELLANT MIXTURE ................................................................. 39 5. CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................ 41 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... 43 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................. 43 II. MASS SPECTROMETRIC INVESTIGATION OF MIXTURES CONTAINING IONIC LIQUIDS 1-ETHYL-3-METHYL-IMIDAZOLIUM ETHYLSULFATE AND ETHYLAMMONIUM NITRATE ................................. 49 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. 49 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 50 2. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES ........................................................................ 53 2.1. SAMPLE SYNTHESIS .................................................................................... 53 viii 2.2. ELECTROSRAY MASS SPECTRA SOURCE AND QUADRUPOLE INSTRUMENT
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