Investigation of a Radial Turbines Compatibility for Small Rocket Engine

Angelo Leto

doi:10.1051/e3sconf/202019711009

Abstract

In the radial turbine preliminary design for an expander rocket engine, a comparison was made with axial turbine used in Pratt & Whitney RL10 engine. One of the primary requirements of a liquid propellant rocket engine is the generation of a high thrust, which depends on both the mass flow rate of the propellant and the pressure in the thrust chamber. In expander-cycle engines, which are the subject of the present study, the liquid propellant is first compressed using centrifugal turbo-pumps, then it is used to cool the combustion chamber and the nozzle and, once vaporized, it flows through the turbines used to drive the turbo-pumps. The aim was to demonstrate the greater efficiency of the radial turbine with a reduction of the pressure ratio with respect to the axial turbine.

Highlights

The turbine design was carried out in two phases, implementing a meanline analysis model that uses an approximation one-dimensional for the flow through the machine and empirical correlations to estimate the losses, necessary for performance calculation.The tool known as Radial Turbine Global Design RTGD [1] is used to obtain the rotor geometry main properties based on the performance required in RL10-3-3A [2] engine turbine design operating point
The results obtained with RTGD tool will be presented and compared with the RL10-3-3A engine literature data
Radial turbine was examined in order to make a comparison in terms of performance with the axial turbine used in the RL10 engine

Summary

Introduction

The tool known as Radial Turbine Global Design RTGD [1] is used to obtain the rotor geometry main properties based on the performance required in RL10-3-3A [2] engine turbine design operating point. The tool can be used for radial turbines design for different applications, not just space. In this particular case, the working fluid is hydrogen, but it can be used for other fluids, since the thermodynamic properties are provided by the CoolProp libraries [3]. Some parameters were calculated and compared with experimental data available for impulse turbine.

Methods

Results

Conclusion