Nitrous Oxide Emergency Power Unit

The proposed Nitrous Oxide Emergency Power Unit (NEPU) is an environmentally friendly monopropellant technology for aircraft power systems. The high energy density and storage safety of nitrous oxide along with the low emission characteristics of nitrousoxide dissociation make the NEPU a very attractive alternative to toxic hydrazine EPU's. A nitrous oxide based emergency power unit can achieve the required power and duration in a system volume and mass similar to that of a hydrazine unit. The catalyticdecomposition characteristics of nitrous oxide are analogous in many ways to those of hydrazine. Because the feed system is pressurized, the NEPU can operate under all conditions of speed, altitude, and attitude. The vapor pressure of nitrous oxideprovides motive force for operation of a dissociation reactor and downstream systems. After startup, no power is required for operation of a basic nitrous oxide based dissociation system. The lack of moving parts required for nitrous oxide dissociationleads to a fundamentally reliable system. A nitrous oxide based emergency power unit can achieve the required power and duration in a system volume and mass similar to that of a hydrazine unit but without the concerns about toxicity, safety, handling, andenvironmental issues. With the information available now, it is clear that potential near-term commercialization centers on military applications. Following later are potential selected commercial applications.