Applications for Solid Propellant Cool Gas Generator Technology

In 2002 and 2003, Bradford Engineering B.V. conducted, in corporation with the Dutch research institute TNO Prins Maurits Laboratory (PML) a SME study for ESA-ESTEC for the identification of spaceflight applications and on-ground demonstration of Solid Propellant Cool Gas Generator (SPCGG) technology. This innovative technology has been developed by TNO-PML while Bradford Engineering also brought in its experience in spaceflight hardware development and manufacturing. The Solid Propellant Cool Gas Generator (SPCGG) technology allows for pure gas generation at ambient temperatures, as opposed to conventional solid propellant gas generators. This makes the SPCGG technology interesting for a wide range of terrestrial spaceflight applications. During the first part of the study, a variety of potential applications have been identified and three applications were selected for a more detailed quantitative study. In the third phase a ground demonstration was performed successfully for a cold gas propulsion system application. During the actual demonstration test, 10 cool gas generators were mounted and all operated successfully in sequence, demonstrating good repeatability of the produced amount of gas and pressure.