ISSN: 2582-8118 Volume 2, Issue 5; Sept 2022
International Journal of Research and
Analysis in Science and Engineering
Web: [Link]
2. Development of A Gas Propelled Rocket Engine
Dr. Sanjeev Reddy K. Hudgikar
Professor in Mechanical Engineering Department,
Sharnbasva University, Kalaburagi,
Karnataka.
ABSTRACT
When it comes to getting people and cargo into space, the rocket engine is king. This
research paper looks at how a gas propellant rocket motor could be built with readily
available, low-cost components. The lathe and the drilling machine were among the several
machine tools used to create the prototype rocket engine. No specialised curved-surface
techniques were used to create the internal radius around the nozzle throat area. Two runs
were made with the engine's temperature and pressure recorded. The temperature was too
high, and two thermocouples were ruined as a result. Therefore, the analyses of the test
findings made use of temperature estimates. Some parameters showed a range of 0-15% in
discrepancy between the initial test and the corresponding theoretical results, but in most
cases, the test results were determined to lay between 70 and 80% of the assumptions. The
sonic boom occurred at Mach 1, and a 1.70-meter-long, bright yellow flame was pushed
out. The exit velocity was measured to be 1664 m/s at Mach 1.87, and the resultant thrust
was determined to be 7.65 KN by multiplying the exhaust velocity by the propellant mass
flow rate. At roughly 2000 degrees Celsius, a combustion pressure of 16 bar was reached.
The second trial taught us a lot about the repercussions of mishandling a rocket engine.
KEYWORDS:
Rocket Engine, Gas Propelled Rocket Engine, Propelled Rocket Engine, Propulsion,
Experimental Research.
Introduction:
A rocket's engine is where the rocket's mass of propellant is stored in preparation for being
ejected as a high-velocity propulsive jet. Rockets are the popular name for vehicles that use
rocket propulsion. Newton's third law of motion is crucial to how rockets work. However,
while combustion is the norm for rocket engines, there are alternative non-combustion types
(such as cold gas thrusters) that can be used. The major objective of this project is to put
students' understanding of gaseous propellant rocket engines from the Faculty of Aerospace
Engineering to use by having them design, construct, and test a fully functional rocket
engine. The next step is to install the engine on a rocket and assess how well the rocket and
engine function together. As a last objective, we hope to break the amateur altitude record.
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International Journal of Research and Analysis in Science and Engineering
The SpaceShipOne rocket engine is a hybrid propulsion system, meaning it can use both
solid and liquid propellants. Some types of liquid rocket engines use only one type of fuel,
while others use two. For example, hydrazine (N2H4) or laughing gas can be used in mono-
propellant engines that function as a basic cold gas system, or they can be used in engines
that include a catalyst for the exothermal degradation of the propellant (N2O). Low thrust
propulsion systems for satellites often exclusively use these types of engines. It is common
for bi-propellant engines to use either earth-storable propellants like nitric acid or its
anhydride and hydrazine derivatives like asymmetric di-methyl-hydrazine (UDMH) or
mono-methyl-hydrazine (MMH) or a hybrid of the two, like liquid oxygen and kerosene, or
fully cryogenic propellants like liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. Although rocket engines
vary greatly depending on the nature of the mission and the launcher's configuration, it is
possible to group them into four broad categories. Satellite propulsion and attitude control
systems, including booster, main stage, and upper stage engines [1-2].
Figure 1: Parts of Model Rocket
Figure 1: "Parts of a Rocket" shows the common components and their locations on a model
rocket airframe. The length of a model rocket's airframe compared to its diameter is
typically quite considerable. The model rocket's engine is normally placed at the tail end of
the airframe, with the payload and electronics bay situated closer to the rocket's centre of
gravity. To connect the rocket's nose cone to the airframe tube, a coupler is attached to the
back of the nose cone.
History of Rocket Engine:
Ancient Roman historian Aulus Gellius, Inc. 400 BC claims that a Greek Pythagorean
named Archytas used steam to fly a wooden bird along wires. However, it wouldn't show
up because it lacked the necessary propulsion. Tippu Sultan, king of Mysore, too made use
of rocket engines. There was a wide range of sizes for these rockets, but the most common
design involved a tube made of soft hammered iron that was 8 inches (20 centimetres) long
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Development of A Gas Propelled Rocket Engine
and 1 1/2 to 3 inches (3.8 to 7.6 centimetres) in diameter, closed at one end, and strapped to
a shaft of bamboo that was 4 feet (120 centimetres) in length. The black powder propellant
was tightly packed inside the iron tube that served as a combustion chamber. About one
pound of powder may propel a rocket nearly a thousand feet (910m). These 'rockets,'
outfitted with swords, utilised a variety of pointy things and had a tall peak, allowing them
to travel great distances and ascend several metres into the air before crashing down on their
foes. Effectively aimed at the British Empire, these rockets were a game changer. The
evolution of rocket propulsion systems is detailed in Table 1 below.
Table 1: History of Rocket Engines
Name of Scientist Description Use of its Limitation
application
Archytas (400 BC) using steam --- It did not produce
much amount of
thrust, to fly
somebody.
Aeolipile Hero’s Engine Steam rocket The principle
(Steam Rocket) on bearing behind it was not
well understood,
and its full
potential was not
realized for a
millennium.
Chinese Taoist Black Powder Fire arrows It was only used
alchemists for small objects.
Liber It has recipe that Use of creating ------
IgniumadComburendos combines one pound incendiary
Hosts of sulfer, two weapons.
pounds of charcoal,
and six pounds of
saltpetre-all finely
powdered on a
marble slab.
Conrad Haas (Germany Construction to Use as missiles ------
military engineer in multistage rockets
(159-1576)
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky Liquid-flued rocket Tsiolkovsky Is was not
(19th Century) engines. rocket equation published for a
long time.
Robert Goddar Modern Liquid- First to use a ----
(american Physicist – (in fueled rocket De Laval
20th Century)) engines. nozzle and this
was the birth of
modern
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International Journal of Research and Analysis in Science and Engineering
Fun fact: the Chinese Han Dynasty, which ruled from around 200 B.C. to roughly 220 A.D.,
invented rockets, which were naturally employed for fireworks.
However, the underlying idea of a jet engine may be traced back to the Hero of Alexandria
(about AD 67), an Egyptian mathematician and inventor who developed a number of
devices that made use of water, air, and steam.
Types of Rocket Engines:
There are two main types of rocket engines, chemical rockets and non-chemical rockets.
There are three types of chemical rocket engines that are distinguished by the state of the
chemical propellant:
(1) solid propellant, (2) liquid propellant, and (3) hybrid propellant. However, there are
other subcategories for non-chemical engines based on their source of energy: there are
three types of rockets: (1) nuclear, (2) electrical, and (3) solar.
1. Chemical Rocket Engines:
Chemical rocket engines use the heat and pressure created by expanding gas via a
compressed-diameter (CD) nozzle to generate thrust.
This expansion is powered by the chemical energy released when fuel and oxidizer are
burned. There are three main types of chemical rocket engines:
1.1 solid propellant,
1.2 liquid propellant, and
1.3 hybrid propellant. A brief overview of these motors is provided.
1.1 Solid-Propellant Rocket Engine (SPRE): It is believed to have been employed in
China for military purposes as early as the thirteenth century, making it one of the earliest
non-air-breathing engines. Several modifications were made to the original black powder
formula for the solid propellant.
1.2 Liquid Propellant Rocket Engine (LPRE): The LPRE is now used in many different
types of engines and gas generators. It offers variable thrust from a few Newtons up to
several hundred. The turbocharger's injectors and valves could become stuck, making it less
reliable.
1.3 Hybrid Propellant Rocket Engine (HPRE): Combining features of SPREs with
LPREs, the new engine is called the. Although still in the early stages of development, these
engines have the potential to be used in a broad variety of civilian and military settings. [3-
4]
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Development of A Gas Propelled Rocket Engine
Figure 2: Three Types of Chemical Rocket Engines: (a) Solid Propellant, (b) Liquid
Propellant, and (c) Hybrid Propellant
2. Non-Chemical Rocket Engines:
For some missions, using chemical rocket engines is unsuitable due to their higher
propellant mass per unit impulse, hence non-chemical rocket engines have been under
development for some time.
Nonchemical rocket engines are highly sought after for use in certain deep-space
applications. It's possible to classify these motors into three broad groups:
(1) electrical rocket engines (2) nuclear rocket engines (3) solar rocket engines. [5]
Objectives:
1. We study on history of rocket engine.
2. Analysis of types of rocket engines.
3. Review literature of gas propelled rocket engine.
4. We study of result of various types of rocket engines.
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International Journal of Research and Analysis in Science and Engineering
Review of Literature:
To better understand High-Powered Model Rocketry, we combed through the available
literature. The importance of this project is first discussed in this publication. Next, the
engine's constraints are laid out, along with a potential rocket layout for the next stage. The
engine's manufacturing geometry and technical parameters, as well as the design process
that led to them, are discussed next. At last, the options and strategies for the engine's testing
are assessed. [6]
This paper details a student-built rocket motor that uses gaseous propellants. It's a group
project the authors worked on with other aerospace engineering students at TU Delft, under
the guidance of the DARE (Delft Aerospace Rocket Engineering) [1] committee of the
Society of Aerospace Students 'Leonardo da Vinci. DARE's primary focus since its
inception four years ago has been the development of rockets using solid propellants.
Several of these rockets were developed and successfully launched, proving that DARE
could manufacture solid-propellant rocket engines, flight electronics, parachute systems,
and composite rocket frames. Since a more difficult task was required, work on a gaseous
propellant engine was initiated. [7]
The earliest "propellant" (a mixture of saltpetre, sulphur, and charcoal called black powder)
had been in use for about a thousand years before the concept of rocket propulsion thought
to have originated in 1200-1300 in Asia. It is typical that the military was the first to adopt
a new technological advancement. Black powder charges propelled rockets into space, and
the most successful of these bombardment weapons were the early 1800s' Congreve rockets
(named for William Congreve, a British officer important in their development). Black
powder, the only available propellant, is not suitable for propulsion, hence the performance
of these early rockets was low in comparison to modern standards. Between the years of
1815 and 1936, rockets were used in fewer military engagements than they had been
previously because cannons were more effective. As is typical with scientific theory and
invention, progress was made in different parts of the world simultaneously. Goddard took
his experiments into space further than the Russian and German pioneers of the time did by
successfully launching his modest but complex rocket engine. While Goddard was busy
crafting models of a spaceship, a teacher in a small town in Russia was just as enamoured
with the idea of human space travel as he was. The Soviet Union recognised the 1903
publication "Investigations of Space by Means of Rockets" by Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky
as the progenitor of space travel. German pioneer Hermann Oberth released his space-flight
dissertation Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen in 1923, four years after the publication of
Goddard's early monograph.
After moving to Worcester, Massachusetts in 1908, Goddard spent the next several decades
teaching physics, conducting rocket experiments, and earning his doctorate from Clark
University. He was the first to show that thrust and, by extension, propulsion, can occur in
a vacuum, without the presence of air. He pioneered the use of mathematics to investigate
the relative energy and thrust of different fuels, such as liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen,
per unit of weight. Also, 15 years later, the German V-2 rocket weapon would exploit his
invention of a rocket motor powered by liquid fuels (liquid oxygen and gasoline). In 1925,
he stated, a liquid-propelled rocket "worked satisfactorily and lifted its own weight" during
a static test in a tiny building next to his laboratory.
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Development of A Gas Propelled Rocket Engine
On his aunt Effie's home in Auburn, Massachusetts, the first liquid-propelled rocket engine
ever flew for a short period of time on March 16, 1926. [8]
Research Methodology:
We mostly relied on secondary sources such books, educational and development
publications, government papers, and print and online reference materials to learn about the
construction, application, and effects of gas powered rocket engines. A test cell that was
once employed in the production of explosives now serves as the home of the rocket engine.
The North wall of the test chamber is designed to blow out under excessive pressure. Sealing
the test chamber protects its contents from the elements and makes it possible to use fielded
precision optical instruments for extended periods of testing. The northern wall is removed
for rocket engine test launches. Optical diagnostics of the exhaust plume beyond the test
area are made possible by the inwardly receding exit plane of the modern engine nozzle.
The control room is where the facility's operators and control systems are located. The
control room is conveniently located near the test cell, allowing for speedy adjustments to
be made in the fuel galley and the rocket engine's setup. From the command centre, lines
for data collecting and control are run through special conduits in the reinforced concrete
walls to the fuel galley and the test cell.
Result and Discussion:
SPREs are favoured over the other two chemical rocket systems whenever extremely high
thrusts are needed for a brief period of time (booster phase). By enhancing propellant
chemistry and processing, their service life can be lengthened, allowing them to find use
throughout the sustained phase as well.
Table 2: Comparison between a Solid-Propellant Rocket Engine and a Liquid
Propellant Rocket Engine
Characteristics Solid-Propellant Engine Liquid- Propellant Engine
Propellant Solid Liquid
Storage Stable for 10-15 years Stable for 1-2 years
Burning rate Low High
Chamber pressure Higher (1-70 MPa) Lower (0.3-10 MPa)
Chamber thickness Low High
Applications Booster (generally) Booster and sustainer
Thrust High Low
Reliability Higher (99%) Lower
Design Simple Complex
As the propellant in the combustion chamber is used, the SPRE system becomes lighter than
an LPRE even after a relatively extended period of burning time. Because of this, it is used
in the missile industry. Keep in mind that the solid propellant serves to insulate the
structure's exterior from any heat generated by its operation. It has been utilised in antitank
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International Journal of Research and Analysis in Science and Engineering
and antiaircraft missiles because of its remarkable reliability, even beyond 99%, and its
small weight. An SPRE's thrust coefficient is larger than that of LPREs because the pressure
inside its combustion chamber is significantly higher. See [Table 2] for a summary
comparison of SPRE and LPRE characteristics. [9-10]
Table 3: Comparison of Various Parameters between Typical Liquid-Propellant
Rocket Engine Combustor and Aerogas Turbine Engine Combustor
Sr. Parameter Aerogas Turbine Liquid-Propellant Rocket
No Engine Combustor Engine-Combustor
1 Peak temperature 2300 K 3400 K
2 Chamber pressure 5-40 atm 50-200 atm
3 Liquid flow rate 2.5 kg/s 600 kg/s
4 Droplet size 20-60 µm 20-150 µm
5 Mode of spray Dilute Dense
6 Recirculation zone Significant Very little
7 Heat release rate 10 MW/m3 1000 MW/m3
density
Because of the high pressure and high temperature circumstances (see Table 3) that exist in
a rocket engine, the rate of heat release during the burning of propellant is much higher than
in a typical aerogas turbine combustor in an aeroplane, at 1000 MW/m 3. Rocket engines
have a larger droplet size distribution than aerogas turbine combustor. Therefore, in a rocket
engine, the diameter and length of the combustion chamber are carefully selected to ensure
that the vast majority of the droplets are vaporised there. With contrast, in an aerogas turbine
engine, the droplets are completely combusted in the first section of the combustion
chamber, while the remaining section is used to maintain a constant temperature at the
engine's outlet. [Table 3] [ 11-12]
Conclusion:
Areas have been identified and physical and technological constraints have been presented
based on a description of the basic components and features of rocket engines, paving the
way for a discussion of future improvements. Though some of the techniques described for
thrust chambers, ignition systems, or injectors should be relevant to other combustion
devices, these areas were not included in the list of prospective breakthroughs.
Reference:
1. Sutton, G.P., History of Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines, ISBN 1-56347-649-5,
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2006
2. Isakovic, S.J., Hopkins Jr., J.P., Hopkins, J.B., International Reference Guide to Space
Launch Systems, 3rd Ed. AIAA, 1999
3. Sutton, G.P. and Ross, D.M., Rocket Propulsion Elements, 5th edn., John Wiley &
Sons, New York, 1975.
4. Barrere, M., Jaumotte, A., de Veubeke, B.F., and Vandenkerckhove, J., Rocket
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Development of A Gas Propelled Rocket Engine
5. Propulsion, Elsevier Publishing Company, New York, 1960. Treager, I.E., Aircraft Gas
Turbine Engine Technology, 3rd edn., McGraw-Hill Inc., New York, 1995
6. DARE website, [Link] (Date Accessed 30 August 2004)
7. Alternate titles: Robert Hutchings Goddard by Milton Lehman
8. Mishra, D.P., Experimental Combustion, CRC Press, New York, 2014.
9. Barrere, M., Jaumotte, A., de Veubeke, B.F., and Vandenkerckhove, J., Rocket
Propulsion, Elsevier Publishing Company, New York, 1960.
10. Barrere, M., Jaumotte, A., and Vandenkerckhove, J., Rocket Propulsion,
Elsevier Publishing Company, New York, 1960.
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