Tutorial Session 11
(Solutions to problems 1 & 6 are provided here)
(Solutions to problems 2-5 are provided in separate PDF)
SINGLE & MULTI STAGE ROCKET
1) Velocity increment from single stage and Multistage Rocket:
Consider single stage rocket: Consider two stage rocket:
Exhaust velocity ue = 3048 m/s Same initial mass, total structural mass,
Payload mass = 1000 kg payload and exhaust velocity as that of
Total initial mass = 15000 kg single-stage rocket.
Total structural mass = 2000 kg
Assume payload ratios and structural
Find velocity increment of the payload coeff. Of both the stages to be same.
Find velocity increment of the payload
Hint:
Ans:
usingle-stage = 4904 m/s
Get M02
u2-stages = 6160 m/s
(3080 m/s per stage
λ=0.348, Є = 0.143
M02 = 3873 kg, MS1 = 1589 kg,
MS2 = 411 kg) Get MS1 & MS2 Find λ & Є
HEAT OF REACTION
2) Heat release from combustion of cryogenic propellants:
Determine the heat generated from the combustion of 1kg liquid hydrogen (LH2) at a
temperature of 20K and liquid oxygen (LOX) at 80K at a mixture ratio of 6. The standard
heat of formation of H2O is – 286 kJ/mole. The following are the thermo-physical properties
of LH2 and LOX:
Properties of H2 (in liquid and gas phases)
Boiling temperature of LH2: 22 K
Specific heat of LH2: 16 kJ/kmol K
Specific heat at constant pressure of GH2: 30 kJ/kmol K
Latent heat of LH2: 892 kJ/kmol
Properties of O2 (in liquid and gas phases)
Boiling temperature of LOX: 90K
Specific heat of LOX: 54 kJ/kmol K
Specific heat at constant pressure of gaseous oxygen: 29 kJ/kmol K
Latent heat of LOX: 6800 . kJ/kmol
[Ans: 200.28 kJ per mole of H2,
1 kg LH2 has 500 moles ⇒ Heat generated from 1kg LH2 = 200.28*500 = 100140 kJ]
3) Kerosene (Dodecane C12H26) undergoes stoichiometric combustion with nitric acid
(HNO3) at 25 C. The standard heat of formations of:
C12H26 is -159 kJ/mole
HNO3 is -171.8 kJ/mole
H2O is –160 kJ/mole
CO2 is –390 kJ/mole
CO is -112 kJ/mole (required for problem 4)
Corresponding molar specific heats Cp of products (assuming H2O to be in gaseous phase):
H2O (gas) is 58 J/mole K
CO2 is 63 J/mole K
N2 is 37 J/mole K
CO is 37 J/mole K (required for problem 4)
Determine:
i) Heat generated
ii) Stoichiometric Mixture ratio or mass ratio
iii) Final temperature of gases
iv) Molecular mass of combustion products
v) characteristic velocity C* if universal gas constant is 8.314 kJ/kmol K
[Ans: ΔHc = 5243 kJ, MR = 5.485, Tc = 2667 K, MWproducts = 27.69 g/mol, C* = 1389 m/s]
4) If the combustion is fuel-rich and a mixture ratio of Nitric acid to Kerosene is decreased to
4.5, determine:
i) Molecular mass of the combustion products
ii) Energy released from the combustion of 1 kg of kerosene
iii) Final temperature of gases (Adiabatic flame temperature)
iv) Characteristic velocity C*
v) Sea-level Specific Impulse (CFC*/gc) assuming chamber pressure to be 7 MPa, and the
gases are expanded in the nozzle to the ambient pressure of 0.1 MPa
Verify that the MW of the products and the final temperature of gases have decreased. The
decrease in temperature is higher than the decrease in MW and hence the C* and Isp of this
fuel-rich mixture are lower than that investigated in the previous problem
[Ans: MWproducts = 25.17 g/mol, ΔHc = 3640.3 kJ, Tc = 2200 K, C* = 1317.5 m/s, CF = 1.6, Isp = 215 sec]
FEED SYSTEMS
5) A high pressure pump-fed liquid propellant rocket based on the gas generator cycle has a vacuum
thrust of 735 kN and a burn duration of 180 secs. The propellants used are N2O4 and UDMH. The
specific impulse is 295 s. The mixture ratio is R = 1.87.
The pressure in the thrust chamber of the rocket is 6 MPa and the propellant supply pressure to the
chamber is 7 MPa.
N2O4 is stored in the propellant tank at a pressure of 0.4 MPa and UDMH is stored at 0.32 MPa. The
density of N2O4 and UDMH are 1400 kg/m3 and 790 kg/m3 respectively at the temperatures used in
the rocket.
Determine:
(a.) Power required to drive N2O4 and UDMH pump.
(b.) If the efficiency of the pump is 60% and the turbine efficiency is 80%, determine the mass flow
rate through the turbine. The gas generator pressure and temperature can be assumed to be 3.5 MPa
and 670 K respectively. The exit pressure of the turbine can be taken as 0.18 MPa.
Assume the molecular mass of the combustion products from the gas generator to be 20.19 kg/kmol,
the specific heat of the gas at constant pressure as 1.9 kJ/kg K.
Ans: UDMH pump 0.735 MW, N2O4 pump 0.765 MW,
Mass flow through turbine = 5.21 kg/s
Gas
LF LOX
Generator
P T T P
To exhaust or
Auxiliary nozzle
END-BURNING SOLID PROPELLANT ROCKET
6) An end-burning rocket uses a double-base cylindrical propellant grain with a diameter of
200mm and generates a thrust of 350 N over a period of 300 s. The thrust coefficient is 1.15.
The characteristics of the propellant are:
Density of propellant grain = 1500 kg/m3
a70 = 4 mm/s; n=0.5
C*=1500 m/s
Determine (i) the length of the grain,
(ii) throat diameter of the nozzle.
