IMPROVEMENT OF DESIGN PARAMETERS OF INERTIAL TYPE FUEL CONTINUITY SYSTEMS

Abstract

Multiple restart of liquid-propellant rocket engines of spacecraft in zero gravity is one of the most difficult tasks that arise in the creation of new products of rocket technology. When performing a flight task, due to the movement of the spacecraft along the passive section of the trajectory, the components of the liquid fuel are mixed with the pressurized gas in its tanks in an arbitrary manner. There is a possibility that the gas phase will be located close to the drain hole. At the time of re-turning on the propulsion engines of the spacecraft, along with fuel, gas bubbles will enter the consumable line from the tank, which can, in turn, cause a failure of their launch.
 In order to avoid this emergency, special fuel continuity systems are used. Despite the significant diversity of these systems, all of them have significant shortcomings and limited working conditions. The main purpose of using fuel continuity systems of any type is to prevent the penetration of boost gas from the tank cavity into the flow line until the tank is completely emptied.
 The paper is devoted to the analysis of the possibilities of improving the design parameters of the two most common systems for ensuring fuel continuity by creating a combined "hybrid" system on their basis. Inertial and mesh systems for ensuring fuel continuity are considered. Theoretically, an analysis of the possibility of reducing the effect of pre-start acceleration for an inertial system for ensuring fuel continuity due to the use of a mesh phase separator in the fuel supply system is carried out. The paper considers the main design parameters of this combined system, which directly affect the level of its technical perfection, as well as the possibilities of their optimization.
 The results of the work can be useful in engineering practice in the creation of new promising products of rocket and space technology.