Advanced Particle Filters

The objective was to develop a family of filters up to TRL-8 suitable for both high pressure gaseous feed systems as well as liquid propellant feed system using hydrazine, MON/NTO, and various “green propellants”.

This project set out to develop a range of advanced particle filters suitable for satellite propulsion applications. The idea was to utilize the extremely precise manufacturing processes available from Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) technology to manufacture ultra-precise particle filters with absolute rating between 2 and 20 micron.The outcome of this project was very successful in the sense that all filter variants increased their Technology Readiness Level (TRL) from the starting point. One of the filter designs has even reach the first flight and is thus at TRL-8. The most challenging application is in a chemical propulsion system for a typical telecommunication satellite in GEO.