Metallized gelled propellants - Oxygen/RP-1/aluminum rocket engine calorimeter heat transfer measurements and analysis

Abstract

A set of analyses was conducted to determine the heat transfer characteristics of metallized gelled liquid propellants in a rocket engine. The analyses used the data from experiments conducted with a small 30- to 40-lbf thrust engine composed of a modular injector, igniter, chamber and nozzle. The fuels used were traditional liquid RP-1 and gelled RP-1 with 0-wt %, 5-wt%, and 55-wt% loadings of aluminum with silicon dioxide gellant, and gaseous oxygen as the oxidizer. Heat transfer was computed based on measurements using calorimeter rocket chamber and nozzle hardware with a total of 31 cooling channels. A gelled fuel coating formed in the 0-, 5- and 55-wt% engines, and the coating was composed of unburned gelled fuel and partially combusted RP-1. The coating caused a large decrease in calorimeter engine heat flux in the last half of the chamber for the 0- and 5-wt% RP-1/Al. This heat flux reduction effect was analyzed by comparing engine runs and the changes in the heat flux during a run as well as from run to run. Heat transfer and time-dependent heat flux analyses and interpretations are provided. The 5- and 55-wt% RP-1/Al fueled engines had the highest chamber heat fluxes, with the 5-wt% fuel having the highest throat flux. This result is counter to the predicted result, where the 55 wt% fuel has the highest combustion and throat temperature, and therefore implies that it would deliver the highest throat heat flux. The 5-wt% RP-1/Al produced the most influence on the engine heat transfer and the heat flux reduction was caused by the formation of a gelled propellant layer in the chamber and nozzle.