STABLE COMBUSTION PROCESSES IN LIQUID PROPELLANT ROCKET ENGINES

Abstract : Information is presented on the combustion processes necessary for successful analytical modeling of liquid-propellant rocket engine combustion during stable operation. Theoretical and experimental results of single-propellant droplet combustion and their application in spray-combustion analyses are reviewed. Propellant-spray formation and droplet-size distributions from particular rocket injector types are considered. Several assumptions concerning the propellant combustion processes are examined and the experimental evidence necessary for confirming the model predictions is discussed. Recent experimental data, found sufficient for approximate model verification, are shown to be useful for guiding the development of an analytical bipropellant combustion model without the necessity of making simplifying and restrictive assumptions. A description of a new combustion model is given, which is based on detailed spatial accounting of the combustion field for each particular injector-chamber configuration and propellant combination. (Author)