CN103453805A - Air-breathing electric rocket for low-orbit spacecraft - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses an air-breathing electric rocket used for low-orbit spacecraft, belonging to the fields of aerospace technology and vacuum technology. The electric rocket includes: a porous array plate, a turbomolecular pump, a compressed gas delivery pipeline, an electric thruster and a spacecraft main body; wherein the turbomolecular pump is installed at the front end of the spacecraft main body, and the electric thruster is installed at the rear end of the spacecraft main body; One end of the compressed gas delivery pipeline is connected to the turbomolecular pump, and the other end is connected to the electric thruster; the porous array plate is fixedly connected to the front end of the turbomolecular pump. The electric rocket can capture the rare gas in the orbital environment of the spacecraft as the working medium of the electric thruster, which can completely get rid of the rigid limitation of the life of the spacecraft due to fuel exhaustion, and increase the number of payloads carried by the spacecraft and the ability to complete more complex missions .

Description

Air-breathing electric rockets for low-orbit spacecraft

technical field

The invention relates to an air-breathing electric rocket used for low-orbit spacecraft, belonging to the fields of aerospace technology and vacuum technology.

Background technique

The traditional electric propulsion technology uses electric energy to ionize the propellant and accelerate the ejection to generate thrust. Its specific impulse is as high as 3000 seconds, which is more than an order of magnitude higher than that of chemical rockets. It is the current advanced space propulsion technology and can be used for spacecraft orbit maintenance. , attitude control, maneuvering orbit change and deep space exploration and other tasks. However, the electric thruster still needs to carry working fluid from the ground, and its service life is limited by the amount of working fluid carried. In recent years, the new concept of using captured rarefied gas in the orbital environment of spacecraft as the working medium for electric propulsion has received great attention. The basic idea is that, for a spacecraft flying at speed v, if the windward area is A, the volume swept by the spacecraft per second is vA, and the mass is ρvA, where ρ is the mass density. If the gas collided by this part of the spacecraft can be collected and used as a working medium for electric propulsion, the spacecraft will be able to fly in low orbit or even ultra-low orbit for a long time, and it can also be used for the detection of distant celestial bodies, which is of revolutionary significance . The technology in this exploration, known as an air-breathing electric rocket, can generally only be used in low orbits where the density of space gas is relatively high.

Contents of the invention

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a kind of air-breathing electric rocket for low-orbit spacecraft, which can capture the rare gas in the orbital environment of the spacecraft as a working medium, and can completely get rid of the impact of fuel exhaustion on the life of the spacecraft. Rigid constraints, increasing the number of payloads the spacecraft can carry and the ability to complete more complex missions.

The purpose of the present invention is achieved by the following technical solutions:

An air-breathing electric rocket for a low-orbit spacecraft, the electric rocket includes: a porous array plate, a turbomolecular pump, a compressed gas delivery pipeline, an electric thruster, and a spacecraft main body;

Among them, the turbomolecular pump is installed at the front end of the main body of the spacecraft, and the electric thruster is installed at the rear end of the main body of the spacecraft; one end of the compressed gas delivery pipeline is connected to the turbomolecular pump, and the other end is connected to the electric thruster; the porous array plate is fixedly connected to the front end of the turbomolecular pump ;

The turbomolecular pump includes a first electric motor, a second electric motor and four-stage blade rows, and the four-stage blade rows are respectively the first rotor blade row, the second rotor blade row, the stator blade row and the third rotor blade row from front to back , the first motor is located outside the perforated array plate and is connected to the first rotor blade row through a shaft, and is used to drive the first rotor blade row to rotate, and the second motor is connected to the second rotor blade row and the third rotor blade row through a shaft. When driving the second rotor blade row and the third rotor blade row to rotate, and the rotation directions of the first motor and the second motor are opposite, the total angular momentum of the turbomolecular pump is zero;

The porous array plate, the first motor, the first row of rotor blades, the second row of rotor blades, the row of stator blades, the third row of rotor blades and the second motor are all coaxial;

The porous array plate is provided with uniform and closely arranged through holes, and the cross-sectional shape of the through holes is preferably a regular triangle, a regular quadrilateral or a regular hexagon;

The materials of the porous array plate and the four-stage leaf row are all preferably aluminum alloy;

The first rotor row of blades is preferably α=20°, s/b=1.5, where α is the inclination angle of the blade row, s is the pitch of the blade row, and b is the chord length of the blade row;

The second rotor blade row is preferably α=10°, s/b=0.5;

The third rotor blade row is preferably α=10°, s/b=1;

The stator blade row is preferably α=10°, s/b=1;

The outer diameter _R1 of the four-stage leaf row is preferably 25cm, and the inner diameter _R2 is preferably 16.7cm;

The first motor speed is preferably 60000 rpm, and the second motor speed is preferably 20000 rpm;

The electric thruster is preferably a radio frequency excited ion thruster.

working principle

Utilizing the high flight speed of the spacecraft (~7800 m/s), the thin gas molecules on the windward side of the spacecraft pass through the porous array plate and enter the turbomolecular pump in the state of directional flow, and are pressurized by the turbomolecular pump and then compressed The gas delivery pipeline is delivered to the electric thruster, which is used as an electric propulsion working medium to provide thrust for the spacecraft.

Beneficial effect

The electric rocket of the present invention can capture the rare gas in the orbital environment of the spacecraft as the working medium of the electric thruster, which can completely get rid of the rigid limitation of the life of the spacecraft due to fuel exhaustion, and increase the number of payloads carried by the spacecraft and make the completion more complex mission capacity. The principle of the air-breathing electric rocket is still similar to that of an aviation ramjet, and it can be used in low orbits that cannot sustain the sustained flight of spacecraft at present, expanding the space field of space vehicles. Through theoretical and experimental research, the multi-hole array plate can obtain a boost value of rare gas about 250 times. Because the gas in space is too thin, even if it is pressurized 250 times, it still cannot reach the working pressure of the gas required by the electric rocket. After the porous array plate, a high-speed rotating turbine is used to further reduce the probability of back diffusion of gas molecules and thus achieve further pressurization. The boosting multiple of the combination of the porous plate array and the turbocharging device can reach 10 ⁵ , fully satisfying the working conditions of the electric rocket.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is the structural representation of electric rocket described in the present invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the impeller row in the turbomolecular pump:

Among them, 1—the first motor, 2—the porous array plate; 3—the first rotor blade row, 4—the second rotor blade row, 5—the stator blade row, 6—the third rotor blade row, 7—the second motor, 8—compressed gas delivery pipeline, 9—electric thruster, 10—the main body of the spacecraft.

Detailed ways

The present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments, but is not limited thereto.

Example 1

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, a kind of air-breathing electric rocket for low-orbit spacecraft, said electric rocket includes: porous array plate 2, turbomolecular pump, compressed gas delivery pipeline 8, electric thruster 9 and aerospace device body 10;

Among them, the turbomolecular pump is installed at the front end of the spacecraft main body 10, and the electric thruster 9 is installed at the rear end of the spacecraft main body 10; one end of the compressed gas delivery pipeline 8 is connected to the turbomolecular pump, and the other end is connected to the electric thruster 9; Connected to the front end of the turbomolecular pump;

The turbomolecular pump includes a first motor 1, a second motor 7, and four-stage blade rows, and the four-stage blade rows are respectively the first rotor blade row 3, the second rotor blade row 4, the stator blade row 5 and the The third rotor blade row 6, the first motor 1 is located outside the perforated array plate 2 and is connected to the first rotor blade row 3 through a shaft, and is used to drive the first rotor blade row 3 to rotate, and the second motor 7 is connected to the second rotor row through a shaft The blade row 4 and the third rotor blade row 6 are connected to drive the second rotor blade row 4 and the third rotor blade row 6 to rotate, and the rotation directions of the first motor 1 and the second motor 7 are opposite, and the overall turbomolecular pump torque is zero;

The porous array plate 2, the first motor 1, the first rotor blade row 3, the second rotor blade row 4, the stator blade row 5, the third rotor blade row 6 and the second motor 7 are all coaxial;

The porous array plate 2 is provided with uniform and closely arranged through holes, and the cross-sectional shape of the through holes is preferably a regular triangle, a regular quadrilateral or a regular hexagon;

The materials of the porous array plate 2 and the leaf rows 3-6 are all preferably aluminum alloy;

The first rotor row 3 is preferably α=20°, s/b=1.5, where α is the inclination angle of the row, s is the pitch of the row, and b is the chord length of the row;

The second rotor blade row 4 is preferably α=10°, s/b=0.5;

The third rotor blade row 6 is preferably α=10°, s/b=1;

The stator blade row 5 is preferably α=10°, s/b=1;

The outer diameter _R1 of the four-stage leaf row is preferably 25cm, and the inner diameter _R2 is preferably 16.7cm;

The rotational speed of the first motor 1 is preferably 60000 rpm, and the rotational speed of the second motor 7 is preferably 20000 rpm;

The electric thruster is preferably a radio frequency excited ion thruster.

working principle

Utilizing the very high flight speed of the spacecraft (~7800 m/s), the rare gas molecules on the windward side of the spacecraft pass through the porous array plate 2 and enter the turbomolecular pump in the state of directional flow, and are pressurized by the turbomolecular pump and then pass through The compressed gas delivery pipeline 8 is delivered to the electric thruster 9 as an electric propulsion working medium to provide thrust for the spacecraft.

If the space gas needs to be pressurized to a higher pressure, a traction molecular pump can be connected after the turbo molecular pump.

If the rotation of the molecular pump will cause the rotation of the satellite and seriously affect its work, multiple molecular pumps with different rotation directions can be started in parallel or in series to offset the influence of the motor torque on the angular momentum of the satellite.

The present invention includes but is not limited to the above embodiments, and any equivalent replacement or partial improvement under the principle of the spirit of the present invention will be considered within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (10)

1. An air-breathing electric rocket for low-orbit spacecraft, characterized in that: the electric rocket includes: a porous array plate (2), a turbomolecular pump, a compressed gas delivery pipeline (8), an electric thruster ( 9) and the spacecraft body (10); Among them, the turbomolecular pump is installed at the front end of the spacecraft main body (10), and the electric thruster (9) is installed at the rear end of the spacecraft main body (10); one end of the compressed gas delivery pipeline (8) is connected to the turbomolecular pump, and the other end is connected to the electric thruster device (9); the porous array plate (2) is fixedly connected to the front end of the turbomolecular pump; The turbomolecular pump includes a first electric motor (1), a second electric motor (7) and four-stage blade rows, and the four-stage blade rows are respectively the first rotor blade row (3), the second rotor blade row ( 4), the stator blade row (5) and the third rotor blade row (6); the first motor (1) is located outside the porous array plate (2) and connected to the first rotor blade row (3) through a shaft, and is used to drive The first rotor blade row (3) rotates; the second motor (7) is connected with the second rotor blade row (4) and the third rotor blade row (6) through a shaft, and is used to drive the second rotor blade row (4), The third rotor blade row (6) rotates, and the rotation direction of the first motor (1) and the second motor (7) are opposite, and the total angular momentum of the turbomolecular pump is zero; Perforated array plate (2), first motor (1), first rotor blade row (3), second rotor blade row (4), stator blade row (5), third rotor blade row (6) and second The motors (7) are all coaxial; The porous array plate (2) is provided with uniform and closely arranged through holes. 2. The air-breathing electric rocket according to claim 1, characterized in that: the cross-sectional shape of the through holes in the porous array plate (2) is a regular triangle, regular quadrilateral or regular hexagon. 3. The air-breathing electric rocket for low-orbit spacecraft according to claim 1, characterized in that: the materials of the porous array plate (2) and the four-stage blade row are both aluminum alloy. 4. The air-breathing electric rocket for low-orbit spacecraft according to claim 1, characterized in that: α=20° in the first rotor blade row (3), s/b=1.5, where α is the inclination angle of the blade row, s is the blade row pitch, and b is the blade row chord length. 5. The air-breathing electric rocket for low-orbit spacecraft according to claim 1, characterized in that: α=10°, s/b=0.5 in the second rotor blade row (4). 6. The air-breathing electric rocket for low-orbit spacecraft according to claim 1, characterized in that: α=10°, s/b=1 in the third rotor blade row (6). 7. The air-breathing electric rocket for low-orbit spacecraft according to claim 1, characterized in that: α=10°, s/b=1 in the stator blade row (5). 8. The air-breathing electric rocket for low-orbit spacecraft according to claim 1, characterized in that: the outer diameter R of the four-stage blade row in the turbomolecular pump is _25cm , and the inner diameter R is _25cm . 16.7cm. 9. The air-breathing electric rocket for low-orbit spacecraft according to claim 1, characterized in that: the speed of the first motor (1) is 60,000 rpm, and the speed of the second motor (7) is 20,000 rpm. 10. The air-breathing electric rocket for low-orbit spacecraft according to claim 1, characterized in that: the electric thruster (9) is a radio frequency excited ion thruster.

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