Injection techniques for 200-pound thrust ammonia- oxygen rocket engin

Clark, B. J.

Priem, R. J.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

RESEARCH MEMORAN DUM 
COMPA4RISON O F  INJECTORS WITH A ZOO-POUND-THRUST 
AMUONLA i>XYGEN ENGINE 
L 
-1 - 
Lewis F l i g h t  Propulsion Laboratory 
c leTfil2nd. Ohio 
NATIONAL ADVt SORY COMM ITTEE 
FOR AERONAUTICS 
CON Fl DENTlAL 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19630002668 2020-03-24T06:07:24+00:00Z
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NACA RM E57H01 CONFIDrnIAL 
NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMmTEE FOR m O N A U T I C S  
COMPARISON OF INJECTORS W I T H  A 200-POUND-THRUST 
AMMONIA-OXYGE3l ENGIME * 
By Richard J. Priem and Bruce J. Clark 
SUMMARY 
C h a r a c t e r i s t i c  exhaust ve loc i ty  w a s  measured f o r  a small range of 
m i x t u r e  r a t i o s  wi th  four  d i f f e r e n t  i n j e c t o r s .  
shee t ,  l ike-on- l ike ,  and t r i p l e t  i n j e c t o r s  were about the same, b u t  a 
p a r a l l e l - j e t  i n j e c t o r  had a much lower performance. Performance values  
f o r  ammonia-oxygen were s l i g h t l y  lower than f o r  heptane-oxygen. 
ope ra t ion  w a s  not observed wi th  any of t h e  i n j e c t o r s .  
Performances of p a r a l l e l -  
Screaming 
INTRODUCTION 
Recent experimental i nves t iga t ions ,  references 1 t o  3, have shown 
t h a t  a tomiza t ion  and mixing of p r o p e l l a n t s  is very important f o r  ob ta in ing  
maximum engine performance f o r  engines using various combinations of 
heptane, hydrogen, oxygen, and oxygen-fluorine mixtures as p rope l l an t s .  
The i n v e s t i g a t i o n  of t h e  e f f e c t  of atomization and mixing w a s  extended 
i n  t h i s  s tudy  t o  include ammonia as a p rope l l an t  t o  determine if t h e  
r e s u l t s  of the previous inves t iga t ions  would a l s o  apply t o  an ammonia- 
oxygen rocket  engine. 
r e fe rences  1 t o  3 t o  provide: (a) minimum mixing and atomization, (b) 
a tomiza t ion  without  mixing, and (c )  mixing w i t h  atomization. 
j e c t o r s  were t h e  p a r a l l e l  jet ,  p a r a l l e l  sheet, and t r i p l e t ,  r e spec t ive ly .  
Tests were a l s o  made wi th  a l ike-on- l ike  i n j e c t o r ,  similar t o  t h a t  of 
r e fe rence  4. 
two je ts  and atomized t h e  oxidant by t h e  use o f  very small holes .  
Three i n j e c t o r s  were s e l e c t e d  from those  used i n  
These in-  
The l ike-on-like i n j e c t o r  atomized the  f u e l  by impinging 
I APPARATUS AND PROCEDURE 
Rocket I n s t a l l a t i o n  
The rocke t  engine cons is ted  of i n j ec to r ,  chamber, and convergent 
nozzle i n  separable  u n i t s .  Chambers 2 inches i n  diameter and 3 o r  8 inches 
long were used. The con t r ac t ion  r a t i o  of  the engine w a s  6.4. The engine 
* T i t l e ,  Unclass i f ied  
COWIDENTIAL 6 
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2 CONFIDENTIAL NACA RM E57H01 
was spark i g n i t e d  and had about a 3-second r u n  du ra t ion .  Oxygen tempera- 
tu re  was  maintained cons tan t  a t  -320° F by a l iqu id -n i t rogen  ba th .  
ammonia i n j e c t i o n  temperature w a s  between 54O and 80° F. 
The 
I n j e c t  o r  s 
I n j e c t o r s  similar t o  those  used i n  r e fe rences  1 t o  4 were tested 
( f i g .  1). The i n j e c t i o n  ve loc i ty  of t h e  f u e l  w a s  90 f ee t  p e r  second and 
of the  oxidant  was 60 feet pe r  second, the same as used i n  r e fe rence  1. 
This requi red  a change i n  t h e  oxidant  ho le  s i z e  from 0.111-inch diameter 
t o  0.086-inch diameter as shown i n  f i g u r e  1, because of t h e  d i f f e rence  i n  
the  s to ich iometr ic  weight-flow r a t i o s  f o r  heptane-oxygen and ammonia- 
oxygen. The design i n j e c t o r  p re s su re  drop f o r  a n  oxidant - to- fue l  weight 
r a t i o  of 1.30 w a s  100 pounds p e r  square inch. 
Instrumentat ion 
Chamber pressure  w a s  measured a t  t h e  i n j e c t o r  f a c e  wi th  a 500-pound- 
per-square-inch recording Bourdon t u b e  instrument .  Volumetric f low rates 
were measured wi th  rotat ing-vane-type meters. The temperatures of  t h e  
flowing p rope l l an t s  and coolant  were measured wi th  thermocouples. Re-  
p roduc ib i l i t y  of measurements w a s  w i th in  &l percent .  
RESULTS 
The c h a r a c t e r i s t i c  exhaust v e l o c i t y  e* w a s  determined f o r  oxidant-  
t o - f u e l  weight r a t i o s  between 1.1 and 1.5 and is r epor t ed  as a percentage 
of t h e  t h e o r e t i c a l  performance a t  t h e  opera t ing  mixture r a t i o  
(character  i s  t i c  -exhaust -veloc i t y  e f f i c i e n c y )  . 
performance f o r  ammonia-oxygen a t  300 pounds pe r  square inch  of  chamber 
pressure i s  shown i n  f i g u r e  2. The r e s u l t s  summarized i n  table I are 
the  a r i t hme t i c  average of f i v e  or more runs  f o r  each i n j e c t o r  and chamber 
length.  The resu l t s  o f  t h e  heptane-oxygen inves t iga t ion  r epor t ed  i n  
re ference  1 are a l s o  included i n  t a b l e  I f o r  comparison purposes .  
Theore t i c a l  equi l ibr ium 
P a r a l l e l - J e t  I n j e c t o r  
The charac te r i s t ic -exhaus t -ve loc i ty  e f f i c i e n c y  was 35.5 percent  i n  
an  8-inch chamber. This  i n j e c t o r ,  descr ibed i n  r e fe rence  1 as producing 
no mixing or  atomization, f o r  heptane- l iqu id  oxygen had an  e f f i c i e n c y  of 
39.5 pe rcen t .  
CONFIDENTIAL 
NACA RM E57H01 CONFIDENTIAL 3 
Para l le l -Shee t  I a j ec  t o r  
The cha rac t e r i s t i c - exhaus t -ve loc i ty  e f f i c i e n c i e s  wi th  t h e  p a r a l l e l -  
sheet i n j e c t o r  were 72.8 and 83.6 i n  3-inch and 8-inch chambers, respec-  
t i v e l y .  Using a p a r a l l e l - s h e e t  i n j e c t o r  t o  atomize both p r o p e l l a n t s  
increased  cha rac t e r i s t i c - exhaus t -ve loc i ty  e f f i c i e n c y  48 percentage p o i n t s  
above the nonatomizing p a r a l l e l - j e t  i n j e c t o r  i n  an 8-inch chamber. For 
t h e  heptane - liquid-oxygen engine t h e  e f f i c i e n c i e s  r epor t ed  i n  r e fe rence  
1 were 71.5 and 81.5 f o r  3-inch and 8-inch chambers, r e spec t ive ly .  
Atomizing bo th  p rope l l an t s  wi th  p a r a l l e l  sheets i n  a heptane - l i q u i d -  
oxygen engine increased performance 42 percentage p o i n t s  above t h e  non- 
atomizing p a r a l l e l - j e t  i n j e c t o r  i n  an 8-inch chamber. 
Like-On-Like In j ec to r  
The cha rac t e r i s t i c - exhaus t -ve loc i ty  e f f i c i e n c i e s  were 69.9 and 83.3 
percent  f o r  3-inch and 8-inch chambers, r e spec t ive ly .  This i n j e c t o r  gave 
72.3 and 83.6 percent performances with heptane-liquid oxygen. 
Tr  iple t I n j e c t  o r  
The performances of t h i s  i n j e c t o r  were 76.2 and 81.2 percent  f o r  3- 
inch and 8-inch chambers, r e spec t ive ly .  With heptane-oxygen t h e  perform- 
ances were 82.3 and 91.6 percent  f o r  chamber lengths  of 3 and 8 inches,  
r e spec t ive ly .  The r e l a t i v e l y  poorer  performance of t h e  t r i p l e t  i n j e c t o r  
wi th  ammonia-oxygen i s  a t t r i b u t a b l e  t o  the smaller quan t i ty  of oxygen 
impinging aga ins t  t h e  f u e l  wi th  ammonia-oxygen. Atomizing and mixing t h e  
ammonia and oxygen wi th  t h i s  i n j e c t o r  increased performance 45 percentage 
p o i n t s  above t h e  nonatomizing o r  nonmixing p a r a l l e l - j e t  i n j e c t o r  i n  an 
8-inch chamber. With heptane-oxygen the  t r i p l e t  i n j e c t o r  increased  
performance 52 percentage p o i n t s  above the  p a r a l l e l - j e t  i n j e c t o r  f o r  an 
8-inch chamber. For heptane-oxygen, atomizing and mixing the  p r o p e l l a n t s  
wi th  a t r i p l e t  i n j e c t o r  increased performance 10 percentage p o i n t s  above 
t h e  atomizing b u t  nonmixing p a r a l l e l - s h e e t  i n j e c t o r .  
ammonia-oxygen the t r i p l e t  i n j e c t o r  decreased performance by 5 percent- 
age p o i n t s  below t h a t  of t h e  p a r a l l e l - s h e e t  i n j e c t o r  i n  an 8-inch chamber. 
However, wi th  
1 
Summary of I n j e c t o r  Performance 
The average r a t i o  of performance with ammonia-oxygen t o  performance 
with heptane-oxygen w a s  0.96 f o r  a l l  i n j e c t o r s  and chambers, i n d i c a t i n g  
t h a t  t he  p r i n c i p l e s  observed wi th  heptane-oxygen f o r  improving performance 
a l s o  apply t o  an ammonia-oxygen engine. Deviations from t h i s  average 
f o r  p a r t i c u l a r  i n j e c t o r s  and chamber lengths  were less than  M.8. 
CONFIDENTIAL 
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I n j e c t o r  
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Over-all  hea t -  
t r a n s f e r  rate,  
B t u  
(sq i n . )  ( sec)  
CONFIDENTIAL NACA RM E57H01 
P a r a l l e l -  j e t  
Pa ra l l e l - shee t  
Like-on-like 
T r i p l e t  
I n s t a b i l i t i e s .  - Screaming opera t ion  w a s  not  encountered during t h i s  
i nves t iga t ion .  This is  i n  c o n t r a s t  t o  the r e s u l t s  r epor t ed  i n  r e fe rence  
1 where the t r ip le t  i n j e c t o r  was very uns tab le  i n  an  8-inch chamber and 
the  p a r a l l e l - s h e e t  and p a r a l l e l - j e t  i n j e c t o r s  occas iona l ly  screamed. 
0.21 
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.48 
.77 
S t a r t i n g .  - S t a r t s  were smooth wi th  no no t i ceab le  detonat ions wi th  
a 1-second oxidant lead. Reducing the oxidant  l e a d  r e s u l t e d  i n  extremely 
hard starts or no i g n i t i o n .  
Heat t r a n s f e r .  - Over-al l  hea t - t r ans fe r  rates were measured w i t h  an 
8-inch water-cooled engine.  The r e s u l t s  were: 
Ammonia - l i q u i d  oxygen I 
SUMMARY OF RESULTS 
An i n v e s t i g a t i o n  of d i f f e r e n t  i n j e c t i o n  techniques f o r  a nominal 
ZOO-pound-thrust, ammonia-oxygen rocket  engine has ind ica t ed  the fol lowing 
results: 
1. P a r a l l e l - j e t  i n j e c t o r s  had a much lower performance than  p a r a l l e l -  
sheet ,  l ike-on- l ike ,  o r  t r i p l e t  i n j e c t o r s .  
2 .  The performance values o f  t h e  ammonia-oxygen engine wi th  each 
in j ec to r  were near ly  t h e  same as those of a heptane-oxygen engine.  
3. Screaming occurred less wi th  t h e  ammonia-oxygen than wi th  the  
heptane-oxygen engine.  
Lewis F l i g h t  Propuls ion Laboratory 
Nat iona l  Advisory Committee f o r  Aeronautics 
Cleveland, Ohio, August 5, 1957 
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NACA RM E57H01 CONFIDENTIAL 5 
REFERENCES 
1. Heidmann, M. F., and Auble,  C. M.: I n j e c t i o n  P r i n c i p l e s  from Combustion 
S tud ie s  i n  a 200-Pound-Thrust Rocket Engine Using Liquid Oxygen and 
Heptane. NACA RME55C22, 1955. 
2. Auble, Carmon M.: A Study of I n j e c t i o n  Processes  f o r  L i q u i d  Oxygen 
and Gaseous Hydrogen i n  a ZOO-Pound-Thrust Rocket Engine. 
E56125a, 1957. 
NACA RM 
3. Heidmann, M. F.: A Study of I n j e c t i o n  Processes f o r  15-Percent 
F luo r ine  - 85-Percent Oxygen and Heptane i n  a 200-Pound-Thrust 
Rocket Engine. NACA RME56Jl1, 1957. 
4. Heidmann, M. F.: Propel lan t  Vaporization as a C r i t e r i o n  f o r  Rocket- 
NACA RM E57E03, 1957. 
Engine Design; Experimental E f f e c t  of F u e l  Temperature on Liquid- 
Oxygen - Heptane Performance. 
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0.086" diam. 
0.25" 4 b- 
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( a )  P a r a l l e l  jets. 
Fuel, 
Oxidant, 
0.086" diam . 
0.086" diam. 
(b)  P a r a l l e l  sheets .  
Oxidant, A 0.086" diam. 
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Fuel ,  
0.116" diam. 
( c )  T r ip l e t .  
Figure 1. - In jec tors .  
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( a) Like-on- like. 
Figure 1. - Concluded. In jec tors .  
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COMPARISON OF INJECTORS WITH A 200-POUND-THRUST AMMONIA-OXYGEN ENGINE

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