Power plants – Reaction motor – Liquid oxidizer
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-10
2001-05-08
Casaregola, Louis J. (Department: 3746)
Power plants
Reaction motor
Liquid oxidizer
C060S259000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06226980
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to rocket engineering, in particular, to liquid-propellant rocket engines in which the generator gas, being the working medium for a turbine, is afterburnt in the combustion chamber of the engine.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A liquid-propellant rocket engine (LRE) with turbine gas afterburning in the combustion chamber of the engine is known. This engine comprises a chamber, two separate turbopump units, booster prepumps mounted on inlet lines, a fuel—liquid hydrogen—pump and an oxidizer—liquid oxygen—pump, a thrust and propellant mixture ratio control system, electric spark ignition units and automatic equipment, ensuring engine starting and shut down (“Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engine Design and Engineering,” edited by Prof. G. G. Gakhun, Moscow, Mashinostroenie, 1989, p. 93).
The known engine ensures a high level of reliability parameters and survivability, but a too low liquid hydrogen density (70 kg/m
3
) and, as a result thereof, the low density of oxygen-hydrogen propellant substantially limits the use of this propellant composition, and the engine correspondingly, for the first stages of launchers.
The technical solution most similar to the present invention is an LRE with oxidizing turbine gas afterburning in the engine chamber (“Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engine Design and Engineering,” edited by Prof. G. G. Gakhun, Moscow, Mashinostroenie, 1989, p. 93).
The known engine comprises a chamber, a turbopump unit with a two-stage fuel pump and a single-stage oxidizer pump, a gas generator, a thrust controller, a throttle for controlling the fuel and oxidizer ratio in the combustion chamber, and automatic equipment for starting and shutting down the engine.
A jet ejector is mounted upstream the oxidizer pump in order to increase the input pressure. This ejector operates on a part of the oxidizer tapped from a high-pressure pipeline downstream the pump. Rocket tank pressurization is carried out using gases produced in autonomous gas generators of the engine.
The known liquid-propellant rocket engine has a relatively simple design, in which neither an ignition system, nor a complicated starting system is used.
But the use of highly toxic components, such as nitrogen tetroxide and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine, producing highly toxic products during the combustion process, as a propellant in the known engine does not currently meet the requirements for ecological safety.
Another distinctive feature of the known engine is that it is started using a preliminary stage mode. However, this procedure does not exclude peaks (brief overtemperature and overpressure) in the turbine gas temperature and pressure in the main assemblies while the engine is reaching the nominal mode.
The use of a jet ejector as a booster prepump for the oxidizer does not make it possible to use the engine at low input pressures.
Besides, the use of autonomous gas generators for the rocket tank pressurization, equipped with their own special start/cut-off automatic equipment makes the engine design more complicated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object as the base of the present invention is to increase ecological safety and improve the technical-operating characteristics of the engine, including energetic characteristics of the propellant and oxidizer feed system.
Engineering results of the present invention are the assurance of engine operation on low-toxic non-hypergolic propellant components, reduction of dynamic actions of the engine upon the rocket during the start and improvement of pressurization system efficiency.
The essence of the invention consists of introducing a programmable start and ignition device into an LRE and connecting it to structural elements of the engine in a certain manner. Wherein, the liquid-propellant rocket engine with turbine gas afterburning comprises:
a combustion chamber, inside which a mixing head of a working mixture is mounted and in which additional ignition injectors are provided;
booster prepumps—a fuel booster pump and an oxidizer booster pump, mounted at an engine inlet;
a turbopump unit comprising a turbine, a single-stage oxidizer pump and a two-stage fuel pump, which are made as centrifugal inclined Archimedian screw pumps and the inlet main lines of which are connected to the aforesaid booster prepumps respectively, an outlet of the first stage of the two-stage fuel pump is connected through a throttle sequentially to cooling channels of the aforesaid chamber and through a start/cut-off valve further to the mixing head of the aforesaid combustion chamber;
a gas generator, a mixing head with injectors of which through an oxidizer start/cut-off valve is connected to an outlet of the aforesaid oxidizer booster pump, and through a thrust regulator is connected to an outlet of the second stage of the two-stage fuel pump of the aforesaid turbopump unit, an outlet of the gas generator is connected to an inlet into the aforesaid turbine of the turbopump unit, and through a gas feed line is connected to an inlet of the aforesaid mixing head of the combustion chamber;
a programmable start and ignition device made with a starting tank with fuel, the tank being connected through a first check valve to the aforesaid thrust regulator, controlled by an electric drive, a first ampoule with starting fuel, an outlet of which through a start/cut-off valve is connected to injectors of the aforesaid mixing head of the gas generator, wherein the aforesaid starting tank through a second check valve, a second ampoule with starting fuel and a jet is connected to ignition injectors of the combustion chamber, and through a fill check valve is connected to a main fuel feed line to an input of the fuel pump.
Additional variants of realization of the aforesaid LRE are possible, wherein it is advisable that:
the aforesaid oxidizer booster pump was made as an inclined Archimedian screw pump and is provided with a gas turbine which is its actuator, the working medium of which is oxidizing gas, tapped from the aforesaid turbine of the turbopump unit, and after the booster pump on the gas turbine is actuated, released into its outlet manifold;
a heat exchanger was introduced into the LRE to heat the rocket tank pressurization gas, the heat exchanger being mounted on the pipeline for tapping oxidizing gas of the aforesaid turbine of the turbopump unit to drive the aforesaid oxidizer booster pump;
the pipeline for tapping the aforesaid oxidizing gas was led out downstream of the turbine of the turbopump unit;
helium was used as the gas for pressurizing the rocket tanks;
a mixture of triethyl boron and triethyl aluminum was used as the starting fuel;
the first ampoule with the starting fuel was equipped with a diaphragm made with the possibility of breaking under the action of pressure;
the second ampoule with the starting fuel was equipped with a diaphragm, made with the possibility of breaking under the action of pressure.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3623329 (1971-11-01), Abild
patent: 4171615 (1979-10-01), Stewart et al.
patent: 5551230 (1996-09-01), Meng
patent: 5873241 (1999-02-01), Foust
Gakhun, G. G.Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engine Design and Engineering, Moscow, 1989, pp. 92-95.
Chelkis Felix Jurievich
Chvanov Vladimir Konstantinovich
Derkach Gennady Grigorievich
Katorgin Boris Ivanovich
Movchan Jury Vasilievich
Blakely & Sokoloff, Taylor & Zafman
Casaregola Louis J.
Otkrytoe Aktsionernoe Obschestvo Nauchno-Proizvodstvennoe Obiedi
LandOfFree
Liquid-propellant rocket engine with turbine gas afterburning does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Liquid-propellant rocket engine with turbine gas afterburning, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Liquid-propellant rocket engine with turbine gas afterburning will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2481958