IIAEM, JAIN (Deemed-to-be-University) 4/29/2021

Rocket Propulsion
(18AS641)
Unit 4
Syllabus
Liquid propellant rockets

Lec 22 – Lec 28

Lec 1

Liquid Propellant Rockets

• Advantages of liquid propellant rockets
– higher specific impulse can be attained with certain
liquid propellants
– Can be randomly throttled, stopped and restarted
– Cutoff impulse can be controlled with thrust
termination device (better control of vehicle terminal
velocity)
– Thrust chamber can be cooled by propellant itself
– Most propellants have nontoxic exhaust which is
environmentally acceptable.

Lec 22 2

Lecture Notes by Dr.Allamaprabhu C Y 1

IIAEM, JAIN (Deemed-to-be-University) 4/29/2021

Desirable Properties of Liquid Propellants

• Low freezing point.

• High specific gravity.
• Good chemical stability during storage.
• High specific heat, high thermal conductivity and high
decomposition temperatures.
• Pumping properties (low viscosity and vapor pressure allow
easier pumping) – flow ability under cryogenic conditions.
• Temperature stability of pumping properties under cryogenic
conditions.

Lec 22 3

Propellants

Solid Liquid

Cryogenic Storable
1) Liquid Oxygen (LOX) +
Liquid Hydrogen (LH)
2) Liquid Fluorine (LF) + Monopropellants Bipropellants
Liquid Hydrogen 1) Hydrazine (N2H4)
2) Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2)

Hypergolic Nonhypergolic
1) N2H4 + RFNA (Red Fuming Nitric Acid) RP-1 (kerosene) + RFNA
2) UDMH (Unsymmetrical Dimethyl (HNO3)
Hydrazine)+N2O4 (Nitrogen Tetroxide)
3) MMH (Monomethyl Hydrazine)+ N2O4
4

Lecture Notes by Dr.Allamaprabhu C Y 2

IIAEM, JAIN (Deemed-to-be-University) 4/29/2021

Chemical Rockets
• Monopropellant: It just decomposes exothermically and
not that ‘fuel’ and ‘oxidiser’ molecules are both present.
• Bipropellant: Two separate liquids, one fuel and the
other oxidizer are brought together before ignition.
• Hypergolic: no spark required, highly reactive, mere
contact of fuel and oxidant will initiate chemical
reactions with release of heat, meaning these mixtures
will spontaneously ignite without any external ignition
source.
• Nonhypergolic propellants require an ignition system.
• Disadvantage of hydrogen: has a very low density, so
needs large tanks.
Lec 22 5

MONO-PROPELLANT SYSTEM
• Monopropellant hydrazine thrusters for satellites, space probes and spacecraft
• Used for station-keeping (orbital correction) and small thrust level applications
• Launch vehicle roll control and upper stage orientation and precision maneuvers
(used on Ariane 5 launcher)

Examples of 0.1N Hydrazine mono-propellant thrusters, Isp~210 s

6

Lecture Notes by Dr.Allamaprabhu C Y 3

IIAEM, JAIN (Deemed-to-be-University) 4/29/2021

MONO-PROPELLANTS
Advantages
• Less complicated
– need only one propellant
– need only one set of drive turbines and pumps
– need less plumbing
• Easy to turn on and off, reliable
• Less dangerous: no chance of interaction of high pressure fuel
and oxidizer
• Less costly to build and low maintenance

Disadvantages
• Limited performance, Isp and thrust

Lec 22 7

pa

Propellants (fuel and oxidizer) are stored separately as liquids

and are injected into the combustion chamber, where they are
atomized, mixed and burned together to form hot exhaust gases.
Lec 23 8

Lecture Notes by Dr.Allamaprabhu C Y 4

IIAEM, JAIN (Deemed-to-be-University) 4/29/2021

Injector Hole Pattern

Lec 23 9

Injector
Primary functions of the injector:
• Introduce (with minimum pressure loss) the
liquid propellants into the combustion chamber
and meter the flow of propellants.
• Cause the liquid to breakup into a fine spray
(atomization) so that evaporation occurs as
quickly as possible.
• Distribute the propellant droplets to enable rapid
mixing such that a correctly proportioned mixture
will result over the chamber cross section.
Lec 23 10

Lecture Notes by Dr.Allamaprabhu C Y 5

IIAEM, JAIN (Deemed-to-be-University) 4/29/2021

Injector Design
• Injection velocity
2∆𝑝
𝑉𝑖 = 𝐶𝑑 𝜌
𝐶𝑑 − 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 coefficient
∆𝑝 − 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑟𝑜𝑝 𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟
𝜌 − 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡

• Volume flow rate

2∆𝑝
𝑄 = 𝐶𝑑 𝐴
𝜌
𝐴 − 𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎

• Mass flow rate

𝑚 = 𝜌𝑄 = 𝐶𝑑 𝐴 2𝜌∆𝑝
Lec 24 11

Injector Design

• For any given pressure drop, the injection orifices determine the
propellant flow rate and hence the mixture ratio.
• Mixture ratio is
𝑟 = 𝑚𝑜 𝑚𝑓

= 𝐶𝑑 𝑜 𝐶𝑑 𝑓 𝐴𝑜 𝐴𝑓 𝜌𝑜 𝜌𝑓 ∆𝑝𝑜 ∆𝑝𝑓
• The quantities in this equation have to be chosen so that correct
design mixture ratio is attained.
• Any particular combination of fuel and oxidizer affects
characteristics such as
- relative chemical reactivity
- ease and speed of vaporization
- ignition temperature.

Lec 24 12

Lecture Notes by Dr.Allamaprabhu C Y 6

IIAEM, JAIN (Deemed-to-be-University) 4/29/2021

Injector Design

• A low pressure drop is desirable to minimize

the weight of the feed system or the pumping
power and improve the overall rocket
efficiency
• Yet high pressure drops are used to enhance
atomization of the liquids and often reduce
combustion instability.

Lec 24 13

Lec 24 16

Lecture Notes by Dr.Allamaprabhu C Y 7

IIAEM, JAIN (Deemed-to-be-University) 4/29/2021

Lec 24 17

Liquid Propellant Feed Systems

Pressurized Gas Turbopump

Low: 𝐹, 𝑝𝑐 , 𝑡, 𝑚𝑝 High: 𝐹, 𝑝𝑐 , 𝑡, 𝑚𝑝

Regulated Blow-down
pressure

• Can be started relatively • Starting takes longer, because

quickly. it takes some time for the
pumps and turbines to
accelerate to operating shaft
speed.

Lec 25 18

Lecture Notes by Dr.Allamaprabhu C Y 8

IIAEM, JAIN (Deemed-to-be-University) 4/29/2021

Liquid Propellant Feed Systems

Regulated pressure
• The propellant tanks are pressurized, with the pressurizing
gas: nitrogen or helium, out of a separate high-pressure gas
tank through a pressure regulator.
• Pressure is kept constant.
• Correspondingly, the engine thrust
is constant.

Lec 25 19

Liquid Propellant Feed Systems

Blow-down
• The tank is filled with the propellant and the pressurizing gas,
nitrogen or helium.
• Pressure in the tank continuously decreases with expulsion of
the propellant.
• Correspondingly, the engine thrust decreases as well.

Lec 25 20

Lecture Notes by Dr.Allamaprabhu C Y 9

IIAEM, JAIN (Deemed-to-be-University) 4/29/2021

Liquid Propellant Feed Systems

Type Regulated Pressure Blow-down

Pressure/thrust Stays essentially constant Decreases as propellant is

Gas storage In separate high-pressure
tanks
Advantages Nearly constant-pressure feed
gives essentially constant
propellant flow and
approximately constant thrust,
𝐼𝑠𝑝 .
Disadvantages • Slightly more complex.
• Regulator introduces a
small pressure drop.
• Requires more pressurizing
gas.
Lec 25
consumed
Gas is stored inside
propellant at tank pressure
• Simpler system.
• Less gas required.
• No high-pressure gas
tank.
• Thrust decreases with
burn duration.
• Somewhat higher
residual propellant.
21

Engine Cycles

• The turbine inlet gas comes from a

separate gas generator.
• The turbine exhaust gas is discharged
overboard through one or two separate
small nozzles.
• Alternatively, the turbine exhaust can
be aspirated into the main flow
through multiple openings in the
diverging nozzle section

The spirals are a symbol for an axisymmetric cooling jacket where heat is absorbed
Lec 25 22

Lecture Notes by Dr.Allamaprabhu C Y 10

IIAEM, JAIN (Deemed-to-be-University) 4/29/2021

F1 Rocket Engine Lec 23

Lec 24

Lecture Notes by Dr.Allamaprabhu C Y 11

IIAEM, JAIN (Deemed-to-be-University) 4/29/2021

Lec 25

Lec 26

Lecture Notes by Dr.Allamaprabhu C Y 12

IIAEM, JAIN (Deemed-to-be-University) 4/29/2021

F-1 Rocket Engine

• Five of these engines powered the first stage of the Saturn V
rocket which propelled the Apollo spacecraft to the moon.
Burning for 161s, the first stage accelerated the rocket to a
speed of 9656 km/hr and an altitude of 61.2 km before falling
in the Atlantic ocean.
Thrust, Isp (SL) 6,747 kN, 265 s
Chamber pressure 7 MPa
Cycle Gas generator

• Each F-1 engine had more thrust than three Space Shuttle
Main Engines combined.
• A turbine was driven at 5500 RPM by gases at 922 K from the
gas generator to produce 41 MW.
• Kerosene (RP-1) at 294 K and LOX at 103 K were pumped to
the injector plate.
Lec 26 28

Lec 29

Lecture Notes by Dr.Allamaprabhu C Y 13

IIAEM, JAIN (Deemed-to-be-University) 4/29/2021

Engine Cycles

Lec 26 30

Engine Cycles

• Fuel is passed through the cooling jacket

before it is fed to the low-pressure-ratio
turbines.
• Then the entire coolant flow is injected
into the engine combustion chamber.
• All the propellants are fully burned in the
engine combustion chamber and expanded
in the main nozzle.

The spirals are a symbol for an axisymmetric cooling jacket where heat is absorbed

Lec 26 31

Lecture Notes by Dr.Allamaprabhu C Y 14

IIAEM, JAIN (Deemed-to-be-University) 4/29/2021

Lec 32

Engine Cycles

• The coolant flows through the cooling

jacket same as in the expander cycle.
• A high-pressure precombustor burns all
the fuel with part of the oxidizer, to provide
high energy gas to the turbines.
• Because of the extra pressure drop
in the precombustor and turbines, heavier and
more complex pumps, turbines and piping
are required.

The spirals are a symbol for an axisymmetric cooling jacket where heat is absorbed

Lec 26 33

Lecture Notes by Dr.Allamaprabhu C Y 15