LOW VELOCITY INJECTOR MANIFOLD FOR HYPERGOLIC ROCKET ENGINE

• US 20100037590A1
• Filed: 08/18/2008
• Published: 02/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/18/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aerojet Rocketdyne Of De, Inc. (L3Harris Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Aerojet Rocketdyne Of De, Inc. (L3Harris Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Noble, Rodney, Brown, William S., Dodd, Frederick, Walczuk, Thomas M.
• Granted Patent: US 9,404,441 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 60/258
• CPC Class Codes: F02K 9/44 Feeding propellants
• CPC Class Codes: F02K 9/52 Injectors
• CPC Class Codes: F05D 2250/232 conical

Abstract

A fuel manifold for a thrust chamber assembly includes a main fuel chamber which is generally frustro-conical in shape. The main fuel chamber provides a resonance frequency that is at least an order of magnitude lower than an acoustic resonance frequency of a combustion chamber.

Claims

1. A fuel manifold for an injector body of a thrust chamber assembly comprising:

a main fuel chamber which is generally frustro-conical in shape, said main fuel chamber defined about an axis;

an inlet passage in fluid communication with said main fuel chamber; and

a plurality of fuel injector passages which extend from said main fuel chamber.

2. The fuel manifold as recited in claim 1, wherein said main fuel chamber, said inlet passage and said plurality of fuel injector passages are formed within an injector body.

3. The fuel manifold as recited in claim 2, wherein said main fuel chamber is formed as a 360 degree channel machined into said injector body.

4. The fuel manifold as recited in claim 3, wherein said 360 degree channel is arranged at an angle relative an injector-valve interface of said injector body.

5. The fuel manifold as recited in claim 3, further comprising an oxidizer manifold formed within said injector body, said oxidizer manifold defined along said axis, said main fuel chamber defined around at least a section of said oxidizer manifold.

6. The fuel manifold as recited in claim 1, wherein said inlet passage comprises a single common inlet in fluid communication with a multi-prong diffuser passage which provides a respective plurality of exits in fluid communication with said main fuel chamber.

7. The fuel manifold as recited in claim 6, wherein said multi-prong diffuser passage is arranged at an angle relative an injector-valve interface of said injector body.

8. The fuel manifold as recited in claim 6, wherein said multi-prong diffuser passage are at least partially open to each other along a length thereof.

9. The fuel manifold as recited in claim 6, wherein said plurality of exits are radially spaced about a conical outer wall of said main fuel chamber.

10. The fuel manifold as recited in claim 1, wherein said inlet passage is displaced off said axis.

11. The fuel manifold as recited in claim 1, wherein said plurality of fuel injector passages communicate with a combustion chamber having an acoustic resonance frequency, said main body having a resonance frequency that is at least an order of magnitude lower than the acoustic resonance frequency.

12. A rocket engine comprising:

an injector body;

a fuel manifold defined within said injector body, said fuel manifold defines a main fuel chamber which is generally frustro-conical in shape and defined about an axis; and

an oxidizer manifold formed within said injector body, said oxidizer manifold defined along said axis, said main fuel chamber defined around at least a section of said oxidizer manifold.

13. The rocket engine as recited in claim 12, further comprising a combustion chamber downstream of said injector body adjacent said injector body and a valve system upstream of said injector body.

14. The rocket engine as recited in claim 13, wherein said valve system is operable to selectively communicate a fuel to said fuel manifold, said fuel includes a MON-25 (25% Mixed Oxides of Nitrogen and 75% Nitrogen Tetroxide (NTO)).

15. The rocket engine as recited in claim 12, further comprising an inlet passage displaced off said axis, said inlet passage in fluid communication with said main fuel chamber.

16. A rocket engine comprising:

a combustion chamber having an acoustic resonance frequency; and

a fuel manifold having a resonance frequency that is at least an order of magnitude lower than said acoustic resonance frequency.

17. The rocket engine as recited in claim 16, wherein a ratio of a volume of a main fuel chamber of said fuel manifold to a flow rate of a fuel through said fuel manifold is relatively large which minimizes an oscillation of a fuel.

18. The rocket engine as recited in claim 16, wherein the rocket engine is a hypergolic rocket engine.

19. The rocket engine as recited in claim 16, wherein said fuel manifold includes an inlet passage with a multi-prong diffuser passage which provide a respective plurality of exits in fluid communication with said main fuel chamber, each of said plurality of exits disposed at a discrete vector to uniformly distribute a fuel through the manifold at the flow rate.

20. The rocket engine as recited in claim 16, wherein said fuel manifold includes a main fuel chamber which is generally frustro-conical in shape.