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Performance Increase Verification for a Bipropellant Rocket EngineComponent performance assessment testing for a, pressure-fed earth storable bipropellant rocket engine was successfully completed at Aerojet's Redmond test facility. The primary goal of the this development project is to increase the specific impulse of an apogee class bi-propellant engine to greater than 330 seconds with nitrogen tetroxide and monomethylhydrazine propellants and greater than 335 seconds with nitrogen tetroxide and hydrazine. The secondary goal of the project is to take greater advantage of the high temperature capabilities of iridium/rhenium chambers. In order to achieve these goals, the propellant feed pressures were increased to 400 psia, nominal, which in turn increased the chamber pressure and temperature, allowing for higher c*. The tests article used a 24-on-24 unlike doublet injector design coupled with a copper heat sink chamber to simulate a flight configuration combustion chamber. The injector is designed to produce a nominal 200 lbf of thrust with a specific impulse of 335 seconds (using hydrazine fuel). Effect of Chamber length on engine C* performance was evaluated with the use of modular, bolt-together test hardware and removable chamber inserts. Multiple short duration firings were performed to characterize injector performance across a range of thrust levels, 180 to 220 lbf, and mixture ratios, from 1.1 to 1.3. During firing, ignition transient, chamber pressure, and various temperatures were measured in order to evaluate the performance of the engine and characterize the thermal conditions. The tests successfully demonstrated the stable operation and performance potential of a full scale engine with a measured c* of XXXX ft/sec (XXXX m/s) under nominal operational conditions.
Document ID
20080036842
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Alexander, Leslie
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Chapman, Jack
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Wilson, Reed
(Aerojet-General Corp. Redmond, WA, United States)
Krismer, David
(Aerojet-General Corp. Redmond, WA, United States)
Lu, Frank
(Aerojet-General Corp. Redmond, WA, United States)
Wilson, Kim
(Aerojet-General Corp. Redmond, WA, United States)
Miller, Scott
(Aerojet-General Corp. Redmond, WA, United States)
England, Chris
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
July 20, 2008
Subject Category
Spacecraft Propulsion And Power
Meeting Information
Meeting: 44th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit
Location: Hartford, CT
Country: United States
Start Date: July 20, 2008
End Date: July 23, 2008
Sponsors: American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNM06AA93C
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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