BUILD AND TEST A SMALL SCALE LIQUID ROCKET ENGINE
Date
2024-03
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
I.O.E
Abstract
A liquid rocket engine is a type of propulsion system that uses liquid propellants, typically
a fuel and an oxidizer, stored separately in tanks and then mixed and burned in a
combustion chamber to produce thrust. Liquid rocket engines are widely used in various
space exploration missions, satellite launches, and military applications due to their
high performance and controllability. In this paper the components of a liquid rocket
engine i.e nozzle, combustion chamber and fuel injector were designed and tested. Two
fuels LPG and kerosene were combusted with gaseous oxygen to generate thrust. The
components were simulated in ANSYS to test their performance. Pressure fed system
was adopted to pressurize kerosene and LPG didn’t needed to be pressurized as it was
already stored under pressure. Multiple test results were recorded and exhaust plume
was analyzed. The thrust of magnitude 12N and 30N was measured in two tests and
in other tests only exhaust plume was analyzed. Both the tests had to stopped midway
due to chamber and injector failure due to high temperature produced in chamber. The
yellow flame was observed in the exhaust plume which is caused by the glow of hot
unburnt carbon particles produced due to incomplete combustion. So, further works on
materials, manufacturing process and cooling is required.
Description
A liquid rocket engine is a type of propulsion system that uses liquid propellants, typically
a fuel and an oxidizer, stored separately in tanks and then mixed and burned in a
combustion chamber to produce thrust. Liquid rocket engines are widely used in various
space exploration missions, satellite launches, and military applications due to their
high performance and controllability.
Keywords
Liquid Rocket Engine, Nozzle, Combustion Chamber, Fuel Injector