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PISTONLESS
ROCKET ENGINE
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WHAT IS IT ???For performance, a rocket must have large,
lightweight propellant tanksPressure fed tanks are heavy and/orexpensive and safety margins cost too muchin terms of performance.
Turbopumps are expensive and require a
massive engineering effort.The solution is the The ual PistonlessPump
!imple to design and manufacture and with
performance comparable to a turbopump andcomplexity and reliability comparable to a
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TOPICS
BASIC PUMP DESIGN CONCEPT
LATEST PUMP INNOVATIONS
ADVANTAGES OVER TURBO PUMPS AND
PRESSURE FED SYSTEMS
PRESENT PUMP TEST INCLUDING A STATIC FIRE
TEST
PROVE WEIGHT SAVINGS OVER PRESSURE FED
TANKAGE OF OVER 80%
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FIRST GENERATION
DESIGN:-
". rain the main tank at low
pressure into a small pump
chamber.
#. Pressuri$e the pump chamber
and feed to the engine.
%. &un two in parallel, venting
and filling one faster than the
other is
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SECOND GENERATION DESIGN:-
•'ain chamber vents and fills
quickly through multiple check
valves.
• (ne main chamber and oneauxiliary chamber, less weight
than two chambers of equal si$e
•Pump fits in tank, simplified
plumbing
•)oncentric design maintainsbalance.
•'odel has been built and tested
*patent pending+
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xpensive and
ifficult to esign
and -uild
Turbo pumps
Failure mode
xplosion
)omplex systemFluid ynamics of
rotor/stator
-earings
!eals
)avitations
eat transfer
Thermal shock
&otor dynamics
!tartup 0 !hut
down
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Piston less Pump evelopment
1ssues
)urrently uses slightly more gas than pressure
fed system. )an use less with pressurant heating.
2ot invented here.
2o experience base, must be static tested and
flown.
&equires different system optimi$ation than
pressure fed or turbo pump systems no sample
problems in the book.
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ADVANTAGES
2egligible chance of catastrophic failure.
'uch lighter than pressure fed system at similar cost.
(ne to two orders of magnitude lower engineering, testing andmanufacturing cost than turbo pump.
3ow weight, comparable to turbo pump.
4uick startup, shutdown. 2o fuel used during spool up.
)an be run dry. 2o minimum fuel requirement.
3ess than "5 moving parts. 1nherent reliability.
1nexpensive materials and processes.
'ass producible and scalable, allows for redundant systems.
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6ffordable and &eliable. ual
Piston less Pump
Failure mode Propellant
dump'a7or components
)heck 8alves
3evel !ensors
Pressure vessels
These parts are
available off the shelf
for low cost
)ontrol !ystem
inexpensive
microprocessor
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Pum
PerformancePump performance
close to target of
".9 kg/sec at : 'pa*#5 ;P',
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6nother )alculation. 'ass !avings of Pump and Tank (ver Pressure ed Tank
'ass of pressure fed tank is proportional to volume and
pressure 'ass of pump fed system is the mass of a lighter low
pressure tank plus the mass of the pump
Tank 'ass !avings
#55 =Pa tank is "/"5 the weight of a # 'Pa tank. Pumpsi$e,weight is less than "/"5 of that of pressure fed
tank.
Pump chamber pressure is the same as pressure fed
tank pressure, but the volume is much less.
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'ass !avings over
Pressure ed !ystem
9 second cycle time and %55 =Pa tank pressure
%q95,55 psi fuel pressure
Mass Savings over pressure fed system
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Burn Time (seconds)
M a s s S a v i n g s
2.4 Mpa
4.2 Mpa
6.2 Mpa
Propellant
pressure
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)onclusions/ Future Plans
Pump weight and cost are low and it works as designed.2ext steps
!tatic test and fly pump in student rocket with
Flometric?s rocket technology.6long with latest low )osta engine designs, pumpwill make launch systems more safe, reliable andaffordable.
26!6
Fastrac
T&@
3ow )ost Pintle
ngine
-eal
-6 A"5
'icrocosm
!corpius