The renaissance of the polytropic pressurization system for a rocket engine oxygen tank
Рубрика:
| 1Sukhyi, KM, 2Voit, SM, 1Mitikov, Yu.O, 1Sukha, IV 1Ukrainian State University of Science and Technologies, Dnipro, Ukraine 2State Enterprise “Production Association Yuzhny Machine-Building Plant named after O. M. Makarov”, Dnipro, Ukraine |
| Space Sci. & Technol. 2025, 31 ;(6):038-048 |
| https://doi.org/10.15407/knit2025.06.038 |
| Язык публикации: English |
Аннотация: For the first time, the feasibility of implementing a polytropic pressurization system (PS) for a cylindrical tank containing boiling liquid oxygen in the first stage of an expendable launch vehicle (LV) has been investigated. A retrospective analysis was conducted on the oxygen tank PSs implemented in intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and LVs of the USA and USSR. Attention is drawn to the successful, though fragmentary, use of polytropic PSs at the end of the second-stage operation in three US ICBMs. Despite the variety of liquid rocket engine designs developed to date, hot helium pressurization systems have become the most widely used for oxygen tanks. However, their advantages (except for “helium is light”) have not been systematized, and their effective application domains remain undefined.
The pressure requirements in the boiling oxygen tank of a medium-class LV first stage are thoroughly examined using the “Zenit” launch vehicle as an example. It is noted that from the very first second of flight onward, the minimum required tank gas pressure is dictated by stability requirements and is approximately 0.1 MPa. This value corresponds to the saturated vapor pressure of oxygen at fueling temperature. At the end of engine operation, it is essential to ensure cavitation-free performance of the propellant feed system and engine pump under all conditions. A methodology is presented for certifying the physical modeling approach for determining the parameters of a polytropic PS, based on the example of a hot helium system. During modeling, influencing factors (external heat flux to the tank, tank oscillations, liquid oxygen outflow rate, and its initial temperature) were varied across a wide range. As a result, key parameters of the polytropic PS required for mass-budget calculations were obtained. It was found to be not inferior to the hot helium system, while offering significant structural simplicity and 100% reliability. It requires no additional components to operate. Simple structural solutions are proposed to improve the parameters of the polytropic PSsignificantly. For the first time, its undeniable advantages have been systematized. |
| Ключевые слова: boiling liquid oxygen, physical modeling, polytropic pressurization system, solid-propellant azide gas generator. |
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