Thermal Performance Characteristics of an 80-Ton Variable-Thrust Liquid Engine for Reusable Launch Rockets

Zhaohui Yao (), Shan Zhou, Tianlin Yang and Yani Han
Additional contact information
Zhaohui Yao: College of Energy and Power Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China
Shan Zhou: Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, China
Tianlin Yang: College of Energy and Power Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China
Yani Han: Xi’an Aerospace Remote Sensing Data Technology Co., Ltd., Xi’an 710199, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 8, 1-19

Abstract: In this paper, an 80-ton thrust liquid rocket engine (hereinafter referred to as an LRE) with a gas generator cycle, a 5:1 thrust throttling ratio, and an integrated flow regulator/gas generator (hereinafter referred to as an IFRGG) is analyzed. This LRE can be used during the first stage of launching, second-stage and upper-stage space missions, and moon/mars low-orbit hovering and soft landing, and it can also be used with various near-space multipurpose flight vehicles. The thermal performance model of the variable-thrust LRE is established, the influence of the main LRE design parameters on the performance optimization is analyzed, and an optimal selection of the design parameters under certain constraints is completed. A performance evaluation was successfully conducted, and we determined the main structural parameters at the sea-level design point; additionally, we evaluated the LRE performance, matched the system parameters under a 100–20% variable-thrust operation, and conducted an analysis on the LRE operating characteristics under a wide range of variable-thrust operations. The LOX/kerosene propellants were selected, and the vacuum-specific impulse of the LRE decreased from 303.2 s to 289.2 s; this followed an approximate linear law, with a decrease of about 4.62% when the thrust was varied in the wide range of 100–20%. The variable-thrust LRE still had a better vacuum performance under a very deep throttling condition. The reason why the specific impulse was low under the deep throttling condition is that it was greatly affected by the different atmospheric pressure that was caused by the varying flight height and the insufficient atomization and combustion of the propellant; however, because of its wide range of variable-thrust working abilities, it is suitable for various special flight missions.

Keywords: reusable launch rocket; variable-thrust liquid rocket engine; integrated regulator/generator; specific impulse; thrust throttling ratio; performance characteristics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/8/6552/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/8/6552/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:8:p:6552-:d:1121996

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().