International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET)
e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume 10 Issue 05 | May 2023
p-ISSN: 2395-0072
www.irjet.net
A Review on Bi-Propellant Engines B. Jaswanth Sai Student, Dept. of Aerospace Engineering, Amrita School of Engineering, Tamil Nadu, India ---------------------------------------------------------------------***---------------------------------------------------------------------
Abstract - Bipropellant rocket engines have been playing a
Other reasons why we need propellant to have high pressure are
vital role in space vehicle launches and advancements in space exploration. This paper mainly focuses on providing a brief analysis of Bi-propellant engines, their essential components, the types of engine cycles, and the cryogenic engine. The paper begins by discussing the propellant-feed mechanism, giving a detailed review of each type of rocket engine cycle, their limitations, a brief look at the cryogenic engine, and what makes it take the edge over normal rocket engines and its challenges.
1) increased flow rate: which helps in achieving high thrust and specific impulse. 2) Prevent cavitation: when the fluid travel through pipes at faster rates there is a tendency to form air bubbles which can cause an efficiency drop by interrupting the combustion process. These bubble formations don’t occur when the fluid is highly pressurized. There are two types,
Key Words: gas generator, pre-burner, turbine efficiency, multi-stage turbopumps, twin shaft, inter-propellant turbine seal, backflow, thermal shock, pre-chill.
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1. INTRODUCTION
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A Bipropellant rocket engine utilizes two different propellants to generate high thrust and propel spacecraft beyond the sky. Knowing and understanding the challenges and advancements of these engines are necessary to improve their reliability and efficiency.
3. BIPROPELLANT ROCKET ENGINE: A bipropellant rocket engine uses two propellants as its name suggests. Which are fuel and oxidizer. These are stored in separate tanks and get mixed in the combustion chamber at the times of combustion. Generally, bi-propellant rocket engines are far more efficient and provide better performance than mono-propellant engines. So, bipropellant engines are most commonly used in space applications and launch vehicles compared to monopropellant engines.
One of the primary advantages of the bi-propellant engine is its ability to create high specific impulse and its greater efficiency to convert chemical energy into kinetic energy. There is a lot of flexibility in changing performance and reliability within themselves, which can be achieved by simply changing the combination of fuel, and oxidizer and changing the engine cycle.
3.1 Pressure fed 3.2 Pump fed 3.2.1 Electric pump fed 3.2.2 Open cycle or Gas generator cycle 3.2.3 Closed cycle 3.2.3.1 Closed cycle (oxidizer-rich) 3.2.3.2 Closed cycle (fuel-rich) 3.2.3.3 Full-flow staged combustion 3.2.4 Combustion tap-off cycle 3.2.5 Expander cycle
The processes that happen inside the engine are mainly based on the principle of pressure gradient force, which states that any fluid naturally will travel from high-pressure regions to low-pressure regions.
2. Propellant-fed mechanism A propellant-fed mechanism's role is to ensure that the propellants reach the combustion chamber. As we know, fluid flow always occurs from the high-pressure region to the lowpressure region. This means that the pressure in the propellant storage should be higher. The higher the pressure in storage tanks, the thicker should be the walls of the tank, which intern makes it heavier and one of the worst enemies of any launch vehicle is weight. To avoid the issue of extra weight that heavier tanks cause and to make sure the propellants enter the combustion chamber with high pressure, comes the play of the propellant feed mechanism.
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Pressure-fed: it uses inert gases stored in small highly pressurized tanks to push the propellants from their tanks. Pump-fed: it uses motor pumps to pull the propellants and pressurize them to drive into the combustion chamber.
3.1 Pressure-fed Bipropellant engine In this type of engine, the two propellant tanks i.e., the fuel tank and oxidizer tank are connected to two different highly pressurized tanks which are filled with an inert gas, generally, Helium to make sure that these pressurized fluids don’t interact with the fuel or oxidizer which may affect the combustion process.
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