Liquid oxygen gasifying system for rocket engines

• US 5,918,460 A
• Filed: 05/05/1997
• Issued: 07/06/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 05/05/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Aerojet Rocketdyne Inc. (L3Harris Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: United Technologies Corporation (Raytheon Technologies Corporation d/b/a RTX)
• Inventors: Cuffe, Jeremy P. B., Connell, Donald R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Ted
• Application Number:
  US08/850,259
• Time in Patent Office: 792 Days
• Field of Search: 60/257, 60/259, 60/260, 60/266, 60/267, 60/730, 60/736
• US Class Current: 60/257
• CPC Class Codes: F02K 9/48 driven by a gas turbine fed by propellant combustion gases or fed by vaporized propellants or other gases
• CPC Class Codes: F02K 9/566 elements and safety devices, e.g. pressure relief valves

Abstract

For a liquid rocket engine including the SSME the gaseous heat exchanger that is in the liquid oxygen turbopump exit flow path that serves to gasify the liquid oxygen for pressurizing the liquid oxygen tank and the POGO is modified by changing the flow circuit to replace the liquid oxygen with high pressure hydrogen tapped off of the low pressure fuel turbopump so that hydrogen/hydrogen at a favorable pressure differential is in indirect heat relation for providing a safe environment and avoiding what may result in a catastrophic failure in the event the heat exchanger fails. An external heat exchanger in communication with the heat exchanger in the liquid oxygen turbopump is provided to gasify the liquid oxygen for the pressurizing purposes.

Claims

1. A liquid rocket engine that includes liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen as the combustion agents comprising:

a liquid oxygen turbopump including a first heat exchanger located in a turbine exit flow path of said liquid oxygen turbopump, a preburner for combining oxygen and hydrogen and creating a high pressure hydrogen rich gas to power said turbopump, said first heat exchanger being in indirect heat exchange with said high pressure hydrogen rich gas, a low pressure fuel turbopump, fluid connections for flowing low pressure hydrogen from upstream of a turbine of said low pressure fuel turbopump and admitting hydrogen into said turbine, an additional fluid connection for admitting liquid oxygen into a pump of said liquid oxygen turbopump, a by-pass line interconnecting said fluid connections for placing the hydrogen from upstream of said low pressure fuel turbopump in indirect heat exchange with said high pressure hydrogen rich gas in said first heat exchanger, an externally mounted second heat exchanger relative to said first heat exchanger placing the low pressure hydrogen from upstream of said low pressure fuel turbopump and discharging from said first heat exchanger in indirect heat exchange with liquid oxygen, a conduit for leading liquid oxygen to said second heat exchanger for gasifying said liquid oxygen prior to being admitted to said engine, and whereby the potential of using liquid oxygen and hydrogen in said first heat exchanger is avoided, thus providing a safer condition.

2. A liquid rocket engine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first heat exchanger includes coils surrounding the turbine of said liquid oxygen turbopump.

3. A liquid rocket engine as claimed in claim 2 wherein liquid oxygen discharging from the pump of said liquid oxygen turbopump is placed in indirect heat exchange with the hydrogen in said second heat exchanger.

4. A liquid rocket engine as claimed in claim 3 wherein said second heat exchanger includes coils for flowing hydrogen and second coils for flowing oxygen.

5. A liquid rocket engine as claimed in claim 4 including an oxidizer tank wherein said oxygen in said second coils is gasified and a flow line interconnecting said second coils and said oxidizer tank flows gasified oxygen to pressurize said tank.

6. A liquid rocket engine as claimed in claim 5 including a POGO circuit and a branch line interconnecting said flow line and said POGO circuit to inject gasified oxygen therein.

7. A liquid rocket engine as claimed in claim 6 wherein the hydrogen discharging from coils flows to a discharge of the turbine of said low pressure fuel turbopump.