The design and main performance of a hydrogen peroxide/kerosene coaxial-swirl injector in a lab-scale rocket engine

Abstract

Future space missions are considering the use of green space propulsion, and H2O2/kerosene bipropellant is one of effective alternatives for rocket propellant. In addition, for a 100-N-class thruster of H2O2/kerosene, it is important to design the proper injector. In this study, according to different values of the geometric constant A which determines the initial swirl intensity of the injected fluid, five coaxial swirl injectors are designed to check the thruster&#39;s performance. From the test and experiment results, it is found that with an increase in A, coaxial-swirl injectors can aid in the mixing of oxidant and fuel but increase the average temperature of faceplate, thus significantly reducing the flame length. However, a large or small value of A is not conductive to improve the combustion efficiency. In addition, the pressure oscillation (P-ins) inside of the chamber gradually becomes intense. Among all cases, Case 3 (A = 3.0), exhibits optimal performance for a 100-N-class H2O2/kerosene thruster. (C) 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.</p