Multidisciplinary Design of Space Blowdown Cold Gas Propulsion System without Pressure Regulator by Genetic Algorithms

Abstract. Cold gas propulsion systems have relatively lower technologies in comparison to other propulsion systems and cost less than them. In this study, for a titanium alloy structure which uses nitrogen gas, first, a blowdown propulsion system without a regulator (pressure controller) was designed, and the minimum mass quantity of the whole system was calculated using genetics algorithm based on the design variables. Given the facts that: 1) the equipment placed after the regulator do not need to be very powerful, so they are lighter; 2) systems which do not have regulators should have a total impulse equal to the system with regulators under the same conditions and, therefore, should have a higher pressure and more primary propellant in the tank, a system with a regulator was designed in order to observe if the weight of the regulator and the conditions of such systems could overcome these two conditions. 

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