Uncertainty Analysis of Propellant Compression Mass Gauge for Spacecraft

This paper discusses a method of compression mass gauge based on adiabatic compression and the effects of the uncertainty in the parameters' measurement on the predicted amount of propellant. For accurate determination of the remaining mission life of the spacecraft, it is extremely essential to estimate the amount of propellant present in the propellant tank of the spacecraft at various stages of its mission life. It is important to study the extent to which the uncertainty in various instruments and other measured parameters affecting the predicted amount of propellant. With Monte Carlo simulation, it is found that the accuracy with which the propellant quantity can be estimated is highly sensitive to the precision of the tank volume measurement if all parameters' uncertainty varied from 0 similar to 1% of full scale. It is also found that the influence of tank volume error is greater as the fill level climbs up and effect of pressure change error decreases contrarily (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Kunming University of Science and Technology