Chapter 8

Liquid-Propellant
Rocket Engines

Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto

unexplored.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN

8.1 INTRODUCTION
Liquid propellants have been used for a long time in rocket engines due to
their higher specific impulse. They were first conceived way back in 1915
by Robert Goddard, who demonstrated the launching of a liquid rocket
engine using liquid oxygen and gasoline as propellants on March 26, 1926,
whose flight lasted for only 2.5 s covering a distance of 56 m. Although
dubbed an unsuccessful event by some critics, it importantly demonstrated
that it is possible to design and develop a liquid-propellant rocket engine
(LPRE). Subsequently, LPREs underwent significant improvements that
outweigh the performance of typical solid-propellant rockets. Hence, they
currently find wide application in various propulsive devices such as space-
craft, missiles, retro-rockets, and gas-generating systems. It can easily pro-
vide thrust levels ranging from a few Newton to several hundred Newton.
It is preferred in interplanetary mission and other important areas due to
its efficiency, reliability, and cost-effectiveness over other chemical propul-
sive systems.
A liquid rocket engine employs liquid propellants that are fed, either
through pressurized tanks or by using a pump, into a combustion chamber.

261
262   ◾    Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion

The propellants usually consist of a liquid oxidizer and a liquid fuel. In

the combustion chamber, the propellants chemically react (burn) to form
hot gases, which are then accelerated and ejected at high velocity through
a nozzle, thereby imparting momentum to the engine. Momentum is
the product of mass and velocity. The thrust force of a rocket motor is
the reaction experienced by the motor structure due to the ejection of the
high velocity matter. This is the same phenomenon that pushes a garden
hose backward as water squirts from the nozzle or makes a gun recoil
when fired.
Some of the characteristic features of LPRE as compared to solid-
propellant rocket engine (SPRE) are (1) compactness, (2) higher specific
impulse, (3) complex system, (4) throttle capability, and (5) longer burning
time. These are to be seen in relation to solid and hybrid rockets where
higher performance is possible at the expense of simplicity of the solid-
propellant rocket engine. It has several disadvantages over other chemical
rocket engines. It is difficult to control the liquid-propellant rocket engine
as its center mass gets too close to the center of drag. As the propellant
is a very large proportion of the mass of the vehicle, the center of mass
shifts significantly rearward when a liquid propellant is used. Besides this,
liquid propellants are subject to slosh, which may lead to loss of control of
the vehicle. The liquid-propellant engines are more prone to fire/explo-
sion hazard as compared to solid rocket engines, because liquid propel-
lants may leak, possibly leading to the formation of an explosive mixture.
Besides, turbo-pump system is quite complex to design and maintain. The
liquid-propellant engine needs considerable preparation before its launch.
Hence, for military applications, LPSE is not preferred over SPRE.

8.2 BASIC CONFIGURATION
The main components of a typical liquid-propellant rocket engine, shown
in Figure 8.1, consist of thrust chamber, injector, igniter, combustion
chamber, nozzle, propellant tank, propellant feed system, and cooling sys-
tem [1]. The combustion chamber along with nozzle is commonly known
as the thrust chamber. It houses injectors and igniter, which atomizes the
liquid propellants, mixes and ignites, leading to the combustion of liquid
propellants. The main function of the combustion chamber is to produce
high-temperature and high-pressure gas due to burning of liquid propel-
lants. Hence, it must have arrays of propellant injectors that can produce
fine spray such that both fuel and oxidizer can be vaporized and mixed
 Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engines   ◾    263

Liquid O2 Fuel

Gas Turbine
gear
2
Exhaust

Fuel
LOX pump
pump

Gas generator
Injector head
Igniter
Spray

Nozzle

FIGURE 8.1 A typical liquid-propellant rocket engine.

well for combustion to take place within a shorter zone of the combustion
chamber. In order to have better quality spray requisite average droplet
size and distribution, propellant must be fed into the injectors at high pres-
sure. For this purpose, the propellant feed system needs to be designed
and developed properly. Several propellant feed systems have been devel-
oped, which will be discussed in subsequent sections. Of course, the pro-
pellant must be stored in high-pressure tank, particularly in small rocket
engine. However, turbo-pumps are used to feed high-pressure propellants
in larger LPRE. The function of ignition system is to provide certain initial
ignition energy for initiation of combustion. Of course, in certain liquid
propellants known as hypergolic propellants, there is no need to have an
ignition system. As high temperature is required to produce high thrust,
264   ◾    Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion

cooling system is being used routinely to cool both combustion chamber

and nozzle. The high-pressure and high-temperature gas is expanded in
convergent–divergent nozzle to produce thrust.

8.3 TYPES OF LIQUID-PROPELLANT
ROCKET ENGINES
Several types of liquid-propellant rocket engine have evolved from the time
of its inception way back in 1926. Based on single liquid or two liquids, it
can be broadly classified into two types: (1) monopropellant rocket engine
and (2) bipropellant rocket engine [2–5].

8.3.1 Monopropellant Rocket Engines

In case of monopropellant rocket engine, a single liquid propellant is used,
in which monopropellant gets decomposed with the help of a suitable cata-
lyst into hot gases that are expanded in the nozzle to produce requisite
thrust. The great advantage of this system is the elimination of the oxidizer
system altogether, making it a very simple system. However, their applica-
tions are restricted to low-thrust and low-duration flight conditions dur-
ing each firing. A schematic of a typical monopropellant rocket engine is
shown in Figure 8.2, in which liquid propellant is injected into a catalyst
bed and decomposes into high-pressure and high-temperature gas. These
hot gases are expanded in the convergent–divergent nozzle to produce
requisite thrust. Generally, monopropellant is a slightly unstable chemi-
cal that decomposes easily exothermally to produce hot gas. Some of the
monopropellants used in rocket engines are hydrazine (N2H4), hydrogen
peroxide (H2O2), hydroxylammonium nitrate (HAN), and propylene gly-
col denitrate (PGDN). Among all the monopropellants, hydrazine (N2H4)
is considered to have desirable properties as it has higher specific impulse
and lower density. Although it was quite cumbersome to ignite it, with
the advent of a better catalyst such as iridium pallet, it is possible to ignite

Regulatory valve

Propellant
Gas tank

Gas feed line

Liquid feed line Catalytic bed

FIGURE 8.2 Schematic of monopropellant LPR engine.

 Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engines   ◾    265

it easily. In the presence of iridium catalyst, hydrazine can be decomposed

first into ammonia and nitrogen, as given in the following:

3N2 H 4 ® 4 NH3 + N2 - 336.28 kJ (8.1)

Note that this reaction is exothermic in nature. As a result, the ammo-

nia gets dissociated further into nitrogen and hydrogen, as given in the
following:

NH3 ® 2N2 + 6H2 + 184.4 kJ (8.2)

As this reaction is endothermic in nature, the temperature of gases

decreases with increase in degree of ammonia dissociation. Interestingly,
the molecular mass of product gases decreases with increase in ammonia
dissociation. Note that the extent of ammonia dissociation depends on the
residence time of hydrazine remaining contact with catalyst, size and con-
figuration of catalyst bed. The used catalyst has ensured almost spontane-
ous restart capability of the hydrazine monopropellant along with relative
stability, clean exhaust, and low flame temperature, which has made it the
most preferred among all other monopropellants.

8.3.2 Bipropellant Rocket Engines

The bipropellant liquid rocket engines use one liquid propellant as fuel
and another as an oxidizer, as shown in Figure 8.3. This kind of rocket
engine offers higher performance as compared to monopropellant engines

Fuel line

Fuel
Gas generator
Turbine
Shaft

Cooling system

Nozzle
Pump
Oxidizer

Control valve
Thrust chamber

FIGURE 8.3 Schematic of bipropellant LPR engine.

266   ◾    Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion

in terms of specific impulse and offers higher versatility in terms of restart-

ing, variable thrust, a wider range of operations, and so on. However, it
has several disadvantages as it has higher failure modes, complexities, and
price tags as compared to monopropellant rocket engine. However, this
kind of engine is used for launch vehicles, missiles, and other applications
extensively, due to its higher performance levels. As mentioned earlier, a
typical pump-fed bipropellant liquid rocket engine, shown in Figure 8.3,
has thrust chamber, injection system, cooling system, propellant feed sys-
tem, nozzle, and so on. Generally, fuel and oxidizers as liquid propellants
are fed through respective atomizers to convert bulk liquid into spray,
which mix with each other and subsequently get vaporized and react with
each other on ignition to produce high-temperature and high-pressure gas.
The resultant gas is expanded through the convergent–divergent nozzle to
produce thrust.
Based on the nature of ignition, the bipropellant liquid rocket engines
can be further divided into two categories: (1) hypergolic and (2) non-
hypergolic. In case of hypergolic propellant rocket engines, when liquid
fuel and oxidizer come in contact, they ignite without the aid of any exter-
nal ignition energy, leading to combustion while undergoing exothermic
chemical reactions. As mentioned earlier, several fuels like aniline, trieth-
ylamine, hydrazine, MMDH, and UDMH are hypergolic when they react
with oxidizers like white fuming nitric acid (4%–6% nitrogen tetroxide)
and red fuming nitric acid (10%–14% nitrogen tetroxide). Note that these
propellants can be stored under normal pressure and temperature with-
out any special arrangements. However, hypergolic propellants like liq-
uid fluorine–liquid hydrogen are to be stored in cryogenic conditions. In
case of nonhypergolic rocket engines, ignition energy must be supplied
externally to initiate combustion. As discussed earlier in Chapter 6, sev-
eral fuels like kerosene, hydrocarbon, alcohol, and so on, can be used as
nonhypergolic propellants. There is another class of most preferred non-
hypergolic bipropellant rocket engines, due to its higher specific impulse,
in which liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants are being used and
for which cryogenic storage system is required. Semicryogenic nonhyper-
golic systems, namely, liquid kerosene and liquid oxygen, are being used
for rocket engines. There is some unusual combination, namely, ammonia
and liquid oxygen nonhypergolic, being used in some rocket engines like
X-15 research aircraft.
 Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engines   ◾    267

Example 8.1
A monopropellant rocket engine is to be designed to produce thrust
of 55 N with specific impulse of 169 s using hydrazine fuel. If the
mass flux through the hydrazine catalytic bed is 220 kg/m2s, deter-
mine the diameter of this bed.

Solution
The mass flow rate of hydrazine propellant can be determined as

F 55
=
m = = 0.572 kg/s
I sp g 169 ´ 9.81

The cross-sectional area Ab of the catalyst bed is determined as

m 0.572
Ab = = = 0.0026 m2
²
m 220

The diameter of the catalyst bed is evaluated as

4 ´ 0.0026
Db = = 0.056 m
3.14

8.4 COMBUSTION OF LIQUID PROPELLANTS

The processes involved during the combustion of liquid propellant in a
rocket engine are quite complex and have not been understood completely,
because the physical processes such as vaporization, diffusion of species,
mixing, and heat transfer take place along with heat release due to overall
exothermic chemical reactions during combustion. The liquid fuel, being
injected into the combustion chamber at a high velocity (20–100 m/s), gets
converted into spray, as shown in Figure 8.4, during which breaking of
liquid stream into ligaments/lobes accompanied by secondary atomiza-
tion of ligaments into fine droplets also takes place [3]. The vaporization
of droplets occurs due to heat transfer from the combustion zone and hot
wall through all three heat transfer modes, namely, conduction, convec-
tion, and radiation. Apart from liquid phase mixing, intimate gas phase
268   ◾    Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion

Injector Vaporization Stream tube

combustion zone
F

OX

OX
F

Rapid Subsonic Supersonic expansion

Spray combustion zone combustion

FIGURE 8.4 Schematic representation of various processes in the combustion

chamber.

mixing of fuel and oxidizer does take place in a narrow zone of combustion
chamber as shown in Figure 8.4. The gaseous or liquid or, both, gaseous
and liquid propellants undergo complex chemical reactions with several
intermediate products, liberating large amount of heat within a narrow
zone of combustion chamber. Depending on the droplet size of the spray,
several liquid droplets move with gas across entire combustion zone even
till the end of combustion chamber, making the flow to be inherently two-
phased in nature. During the early stage of the two-phase flow, droplets
moving at velocity of 50–100 m/s can cause drag to gas flow, but subse-
quently accelerate the gas flow due to both vaporization of droplets and
heat release caused by burning of fuel. Besides this, turbulent diffusion
of active species such as H, OH, and H2 makes the flow more complex
and difficult to handle analytically. The occurrence of recirculation zone
and turbulent vortices of gas around the injector augments the mixing and
heat transfer, which helps vaporization and combustion. Note that the pro-
cesses are so complex that they would not be occurring sequentially as
described. Rather, some of these processes occur simultaneously. Besides
this, it is difficult to decide which process has the greatest influence on the
combustion of propellants.
The combustion in the liquid rocket engine is quite dynamic because
the flame front moves across the entire mass, which might be caused due
to intense turbulence level in the gases of the combustion chamber. The
residence time of both fuel and oxidizer is quite small, that is, even less
than 10 ms. The heat release rate per unit volume in typical rocket engine is
 Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engines   ◾    269

TABLE 8.1 Comparison of Various Parameters between Typical Liquid-

Propellant Rocket Engine Combustor and Aerogas Turbine Engine Combustor
Aerogas Turbine Liquid-Propellant Rocket
Sl. No. Parameter Engine Combustor Engine Combustor
1. Peak temperature 2300 K 3400 K
2. Chamber pressure 5–40 atm 50–200 atm
3. Liquid flow rate 2.5 kg/s 600 kg/s
4. Droplet size 20–60 μm 20–150 μm
5. Mode of spray Dilute Dense
6. Recirculation zone Significant Very little
7. Heat release rate density 10 MW/m3 1000 MW/m3

1000 MW/m3, which is even 100 times compared to typical aerogas turbine
combustor in aircraft, because the higher rate of heat release during the
combustion of propellant takes place at high-pressure and high-tempera-
ture conditions (see Table 8.1) prevailing in rocket engine. The droplet size
range for rocket engines is higher as compared to aerogas turbine combus-
tor. Hence, in the case of rocket engine, diameter and length of combustion
chamber is chosen judiciously such that most of the droplets are at least
vaporized in the combustion chamber itself. In contrast, complete com-
bustion of droplets takes place within the initial portion of combustion
chamber length of aerogas turbine engine as later portion of combustion
chamber is used to ensure uniform temperature at its exit.
We will now explore how different phases take place in the combus-
tion chamber for two types of liquid propellants, namely, (1) hypergolic
and (2) nonhypergolic. In case of hypergolic propellant combustion, injec-
tors are designed such that both fuel and oxidizer are mixed in the liquid
phase itself as they can react easily in the liquid phase to produce certain
amount of heat while undergoing exothermic chemical reactions. For
example, certain hypergolic propellants like triethylamine (fuel) and nitric
acid (oxidizer) or xylidine and nitric acid can be mixed in liquid phase to
form stable solution even at low temperature and pressure. The heat liber-
ated during liquid phase exothermic reactions is utilized to vaporize the
liquid fuel–oxidizer mixture and hot gases are produced quickly, which
helps in initiating chemical reactions in gaseous phase without any aid of
external ignition energy. Hence, actual combustion between both fuel and
oxidizer will take place leading to formation of burnt gas that mixes with
other vapor. This intense mixing of fuel and oxidizer in gaseous phase can
270   ◾    Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion

form turbulent premixed flame/flamelets in the combustion chamber to

produce final combustion products. Apart from this, there is a chance that
droplets are formed during the atomization of both fuel and oxidizer pro-
pellant. These droplets can undergo combustion, either forming a single
diffusion flame around a single droplet or diffusion flame around a group/
cluster of droplets. These processes involved during hypergolic combus-
tion are shown schematically in Figure 8.5a. It can be observed that there
is another path in which both fuel and oxidizer droplets formed during
atomization process can undergo vaporization and mixing to form gaseous
mixture that can lead to the formation of premixed flame. There might be
several other permutations and combinations of processes that can occur
during combustion of hypergolic propellants in a liquid-propellant rocket
engine.
In case of nonhypergolic propellant, both fuel and oxidizer do not have
chemical affinity for each other in liquid phase. In other words, there would
not be any chemical reaction between fuel and oxidizer in liquid phase.

Hypergolic propellant

Mixing in
liquid phase Atomization of
F and OX

Chemical
reactions Vaporization Flame
in gas
phase
Group
droplets
Reactions
Vaporized in vapor Droplets
reaction in gas phase
phase

Mixing of gas Diffusion

vapor
flame

Premixed flame

Combustion products
(a)

FIGURE 8.5 Schematic of combustion processes in liquid-propellant rocket

engine combustor for (a) hypergolic. (Continued)
 Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engines   ◾    271

Nonhypergolic
propellant

Spray forming
of droplets

Primary Heterogeneous
atomization mixing of liquid
and gas phase

Vaporization of
secondary
atomization Droplet
combustion and
spray combustion

Gas phase
mixing

Gas phase
diffusion flame
Premixed
flame

Combustion
products
(b)

FIGURE 8.5 (Continued) Schematic of combustion processes in liquid-propellant

rocket engine combustor for (b) nonhypergolic [3].

Hence, exothermic reactions that occur during the gas phase reactions are
used to vaporize the liquid propellants such that they can be converted
into gaseous phase before being ignited for sustenance of combustion pro-
cess. That means, the combustion processes will be influenced by the heat
release rate and physical properties of liquid propellants. Although there
might be liquid phase mixing as shown in Figure 8.5b during atomization
process, but there would not be any chemical reactions in the liquid phase.
During this process, some of the liquid-propellant droplets can get vapor-
ized into gas phase. This vaporization process can be influenced by heat
release from both homogeneous and heterogeneous combustion processes,
as some of the liquid fuel droplets can be floated as single droplet or cluster
of droplets or cluster of group droplets. When vaporized fuel from a single
or group of droplets comes in contact with gaseous oxidizer, diffusion flame
272   ◾    Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion

is formed while undergoing heterogeneous combustion to produce com-

bustion products. Besides these, primary droplets may undergo secondary
atomization, which accelerates the vaporization processes, although with
the help of heat transfer from combustion zone by both convection and
radiation heat transfer. The fuel, oxidizer, and combustion products in gas-
eous phase are mixed by molecular diffusion and turbulent flow to form
premixed mixture, which undergoes chemical reactions to form premixed
flame. The processes involved during combustion of nonhypergolic pro-
pellants are shown schematically in Figure 8.5b. It can be noted that these
complex processes are tentative in nature, which need to be developed with
further research with the help of advanced optical diagnostic and numeri-
cal tools in future.
The processes described provide a qualitative picture of the complex
phenomena describing various stages during combustion of liquid pro-
pellants. It is quite difficult and cumbersome to determine the exact time
required for each process. In order to design combustion chamber length,
we need to determine the time required for certain partial or complete pro-
cesses that ensure complete combustion. Let us then consider the change
of specific volume v, from the time of propellant entry to the formation of
combustion products in the form of hot gas. We will consider two cases:
(1) hypergolic and (2) nonhypergolic propellant combustion.

8.4.1 Hypergolic Propellant Combustion

For hypergolic propellant combustion, it can be assumed that exothermic
chemical reaction can be initiated as soon as both fuel and oxidizer propel-
lants are injected from a suitable injection system. As a result, specific vol-
ume starts increasing from the point of injection, as shown in Figure 8.6.
Subsequently, specific volume increases continuously till the end of com-
plete burning of propellants, as gaseous phase combustion continues both
in the form of premixed and diffusion flames that results in an increase in
specific volume. It can be noted that it would not be possible to differenti-
ate between liquid-phase and gas-phase chemical reactions. However, if
we can assume the first-order chemical reaction to be occurring during
liquid phase chemical reaction, then its time constant can be obtained eas-
ily, assuming a theoretical profile for specific volume with time, as shown
in Figure 8.6a. The time for liquid-phase reaction tlc can be determined as
the reciprocal of specific reaction rate. This can be defined by the tangent
to the exponential curve at time t = 0 as described in Figure 8.6a. The time
for the reactions to take place in the combustion chamber trg is equal to the
 Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engines   ◾    273

vv trg vv

Specific volume, v
Specific volume, v D
tlc

A B
ti trg
tr
(a) Time, t (ms) (b) Time, t (ms)

FIGURE 8.6 Variation of specific volume with time for (a) hypergolic and
(b) nonhypergolic combustion.

residence time of the gaseous flow of propellant. Hence, two characteristic

times, namely, liquid-phase combustion time tlc and residence time for gas-
eous phase combustion trg can be used for the determination of the length
of combustion chamber.

8.4.1.1 Nonhypergolic Propellant Combustion

In this case, liquid-phase combustion does not take place. Hence, when
propellant enters into the combustion chamber through injector, the pro-
pellant does not burn immediately; rather, it takes certain interval of time
known as ignition time ti, during which fuel and oxidizer propellant are
mixed and vaporized. As a result, specific volume remains almost constant
during this time, as shown in Figure 8.6b, and the specific volume starts
increasing at B due to vaporization of liquid propellant caused by atomiza-
tion and heat transfer from the combustion zone. Of course, this increase
in specific volume occurs at a slower rate till point C. The time duration
from the starting of propellant injection till point C is known as ignition
delay time ti. Subsequently, the specific volume gets accelerated beyond
point C till point D as the exothermic chemical reactions are initiated. The
gas generated due to burning of propellant has to stay for certain time in
the combustion chamber to ensure complete combustion. Hence, the resi-
dence time duration from the initiation of combustion till its completion,
during which propellants and their combustion products will be in gas
phase, is termed trg. Hence, the total residence time tr is the sum of ignition
delay time and residence time in gas phase, as given in the following:

t r = t i + t rg (8.3)
274   ◾    Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion

8.5 COMBUSTION CHAMBER GEOMETRY

In order to ensure complete combustion in a liquid-propellant rocket
engine, we need to provide minimum volume of the combustion cham-
ber such that liquid propellant must have enough residence time to stay
inside the combustion chamber. The volume of thrust chamber Vc can be
related to the characteristics length L* and throat area At , as given in the
following:

Vc = L* At ; Vc = Lc Ac (8.4)

where
Lc is the combustor chamber length
Ac is the combustion chamber cross-sectional area

The characteristics length L* can be related to the total residence time

as [3]

L*
= f1 ( t i ) + f 2 ( t rg ) (8.5)
C*

where C* is the characteristic velocity. Hence, in order to determine the

volume, we need to know the f1(ti) and f2(trg) along with characteristic
velocity and throat area. For simplicity, the ignition time ti can be neglected
as it is small as compared to residence time in gas phase for certain cases.
As the residence time in gas phase trg is the ratio of mass of the gas mg in
the combustion chamber to the mass flow rate of propellant being injected
into the combustion chamber m,  which is expressed as

mg
t rg = (8.6)
m

For steady-state conditions, let us assume that entire combustion cham-

ber volume Vc has average density r g , which is equal to the density of the
burnt gases. Then by using the definition of the characteristic velocity C*,
the expression (Equation 8.6) for the residence time in gas phase trg can be
restated as

mg r g V r g L*C *
t rg = = = (8.7)
m m
 Pc
 Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engines   ◾    275

By invoking Equation 8.4, we can express f2(trg) as

Pc
f 2 ( t rg ) = × t rg (8.8)
r g C *2

By assuming the specific heat ratio γ to remain constant across the entire
combustion zone up to the throat of the nozzle, we can have

Pc
= G2 (8.9)
r g C *2

Then, we can have a simple expression for the characteristic length L*,
which is given by

L*
= G2t rg (8.10)
C*

Similarly, we have an expression for combustion chamber volume Vc,

which is given by

Vc = L* At = G2t rg At (8.11)

Note that for design of liquid-propellant rocket engine, the specific heat
ratio γ can be considered as 1.25; then we can evaluate the combustion
chamber volume Vc easily by knowing the residence time in gas phase trg.
For most cases, experimental studies indicate that the residence time in
gas phase trg varies from 2 × 10−3 to 7 × 10−3 s. But in order to evaluate
the volume accurately, we need to evaluate f1(ti). But this residence time
function f1(ti) is dependent on the injection system. In other words, it is
dependent on the injection pressure drop across fuel ΔPF and oxidizer
ΔPox, and chamber pressure, turbulence level, type of injector and its
arrangement, and type of propellants used in liquid-propellant rocket
engine. It is quite difficult to develop a general expression for f1(ti),
and this is not yet possible. However, experimental data can be used
for design purposes. Besides this, the characteristic length L* can be
obtained experimentally. As mentioned earlier, characteristic length L*
is dependent on the nature of propellant, as evident from the experimen-
tal data shown in Table 8.2.
276   ◾    Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion

TABLE 8.2 Typical Range of Characteristic Length L* for Different

Liquid-Propellant Systems
Propellant System Characteristics Length L*(m)
Liquid fluorine–hydrazine 0.60–0.71
Liquid fluorine (LF)–liquid hydrogen (LH2) 0.63–0.76
Nitric acid–hydrazine 0.76–089
Liquid oxygen–ammonia 0.76–1.0
Liquid oxygen (LOX)–liquid hydrogen (LH2) 0.8–1.0
Liquid oxygen–kerosene (RP1) 1.01–1.27
Nitric acid–UDMH 1.5–2.0
Liquid oxygen–ethyl alcohol 2.5–3
Nitric acid–hydrocarbon 2–3

Sources: Barrere, M. et al., Rocket Propulsion, Elsevier Publishing Company,

New York, 1960; Huzel, D.K. and Huang, D.H., Modern Engineering
for Design of Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines, Vol. 147, AIAA
Publication, Washington, DC, 1992.

Apart from this, characteristic length L* is not only dependent on the

injection system but also on the cross-sectional area ratio εc = Ac/At. This
represents the optimum cross section required for the minimum chamber
length. In order to determine the cross-sectional area ratio εc = Ac/At =
A2/A*. Note that this cross-sectional ratio εc is dependent on the size of the
rocket motor, which decreases as the thrust level increases. For example,
the American designers use εc = 1.2–2 for 100 tons of thrust, εc = 2–3 for
10 tons of thrust, εc = 3–4 for 1 ton of thrust. It can be observed that the
American designers prefer the cross-sectional area ratio εc in the range of
1.2–4.0, while the German designer uses the cross-sectional area ratio εc
in the range of 4–15. Then, the German-designed rocket engines will be
smaller in length as compared to the American design for the same thrust
level and propellant system. But a lower value of εc can incur losses due
to heat transfer from its wall and higher pressure drop in cooling system,
which result in lower overall efficiency.
After choosing proper value of the cross-sectional area ratio εc= Ac/At =
A2/A*, we need to determine the pressure losses in the combustion cham-
ber that are incurred due to heat releases rate, increase in flow Mach
number along combustion chamber and frictional heat losses. The actual
determination of pressure drop across even the geometrically simple
combustion chamber is quite difficult and complex as the flow is three-
dimensional in nature accompanied with higher level of heat release. For
this purpose, let us consider a constant area combustion chamber for
 Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engines   ◾    277

which we can derive the static pressure ratio with assumption of Rayleigh
flow [6,7], given as follows:

P2 1 + gM12
= (8.12)
P1 1 + gM22

Then the total pressure ratio between stations (1) and (2) can be derived
easily as

g
é g - 1 2 ù g -1
1+ M2 ú
Pt 2 1 + gM12 ê 2
= ê ú (8.13)
Pt1 1 + gM22 ê g - 1 2 ú
1+ M1
ë 2 û

We can assume the Mach number M1 at the end of injection to be negligi-

bly small. Then, for M1 ≃ 0, Equations 8.12 and 8.13 become

g
é g - 1 2 ù g -1
1+ M2 ú
P2 1 Pt 2 êë 2 û
= ; = (8.14)
P1 1 + gM22 Pt1 1 + gM22

We need to determine the Mach number at station (2) to determine the

pressure losses across the combustor. By assuming the flow to be isentropic
in the exhaust nozzle of the rocket engine, we can derive an expression for
the cross-sectional area ratio εc= Ac/At = A2/A* as follows:

g +1
Ac A2 1 é 2 æ g - 1 2 ö ù 2( g -1)
= * = 1+ M2 ÷ ú (8.15)
At A M2 êë g + 1 çè 2 øû

Assuming the specific heat ratio γ to be around 1.25 for typical liquid-
propellant combustion, we can determine the exit Mach number M2 for typ-
ical set of the cross-sectional area ratio εc = A2/At, as shown in Figure 8.7. It
can be noted that Mach number decreases with increase in the cross-sectional
area ratio εc. In contrast, both static and total pressure ratios increase with the
cross-sectional area ratio εc. Although it is prudent to use the cross-sectional
area ratio εc = A2/At = 1 corresponding to straight nozzle, the cross-sectional
area (contraction) ratio εc between 1.2 and 4 is used routinely.
278   ◾    Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion

1.0 1.0

0.9
0.8

0.8
P2/P1
0.6
P2/P1

M2

M2
0.7
0.4
0.6

0.2
0.5

0.4 0.0
1 2 3 4 5 6
Ac/At

FIGURE 8.7 Variation of Mach number, M2, static and total pressure ratios with
cross-sectional area ratio εc for γ = 1.2.

Before leaving this section, let us discuss the options of choosing

proper shape of the combustion chamber available to the designer. From
Equation 8.13, it can be inferred that designer can choose any shape of
the combustion chamber as the residence time is independent of the com-
bustion chamber volume. But in the real situation, the choice of proper
shape of combustion chamber is quite important in determining the per-
formance of the liquid rocket engine. We know that a long combustion
chamber with a smaller cross-sectional area can incur high pressure losses
due to higher frictional and gas dynamic losses. In contrast, shorter com-
bustion chamber with higher cross-sectional area can have higher zone of
atomization and vaporization, leading to poorer combustion due to shorter
mixing and combustion time. Besides these factors, other factors such as
heat transfer, combustion instability, weight, cost, reliability, and reignition
capability are to be considered while deciding about the shape of combus-
tion chamber. Three distinct shapes of combustion chamber that have been
employed in practice are shown in Figure 8.8. Ideally, the spherical shape
of the combustion chamber shown in Figure 8.8a is considered to be the
best among all three shapes as it has the highest surface-to-volume ratio
for the same material strength and chamber pressure. Besides this, it can
have minimum wall thickness required for same level of chamber pressure,
which happens to be almost half of that of a cylindrical shape chamber. It
has added advantages of lesser cooling surface and weight. But it is quite
 Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engines   ◾    279

Injector Injector

Throat Throat

Nozzle Nozzle

(a) (b) (c)

FIGURE 8.8 Various shapes of combustion chamber: (a) spherical, (b) near
spherical, and (c) cylindrical.

complex to manufacture and incurs loss in overall performance of com-

bustion due to difficulties encountered during atomization, vaporization,
and combustion processes. Early European designers preferred this kind
of shape for liquid rocket engine. Subsequently, in order to overcome the
problems of manufacturing, they designed and developed near-spherical
shape combustion chamber, as shown in Figure 8.8b. But, American engi-
neers prefer cylindrical-shaped combustion chamber, as shown in Figure
8.8c, which is currently being used in most parts of the globe as it is quite
easy to manufacture and maintain.

Example 8.2
In a liquid-propellant rocket engine, propellant is injected into its
combustion chamber at pressure of 6 MPa and temperature of 3800 K.
If the residence time happens to be 0.7 ms, determine the length of
cylindrical combustion chamber. Assume that instantaneous com-
bustion occurs, which produces flow with Mach number of 0.3. Take
γ = 1.2 and MW of product gas = 25.

Solution
The theoretical characteristic velocity of this engine can be deter-
mined as

RTc ( 8314/25) ´ 3800

C* = = = 1732 m/s
G 0.649
280   ◾    Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion

g +1 1.2 +1
æ 2 ö g -1 æ 2 ö 1.2 -1
as G = g ç ÷ = 1. 2 ç = 0.649
ç ( g + 1) ÷ ç (1.2 + 1) ÷÷
è ø è ø

By using Equations 8.8 and 8.5, we can evaluate

L* Pc 6 ´ 106 ´ 0.7 ´ 10-3

*
= *2
× t rg = 2
= 0.29 ´ 10-3
C rg C 4.75 ´ 1732

Assuming ideal gas law, we can have

Pc 6 ´ 106 ´ 25
rg = = = 4.75 kg/m3
RTc 8314 ´ 3800

Let us now evaluate the Ac/At by using Equation 8.15:

g +1
Ac 1 é 2 æ g - 1 2 ö ù 2( g -1)
= 1+ M2 ÷ ú
At M2 êë g + 1 çè 2 øû
1.2 +1
1 é 2 æ 1. 2 - 1 2 ö ù 2(1.2 -1)
=
0.3 êë 1.2 + 1 çè
1 +
2
( 0 . 3 ) ÷ú = 2.07
øû

The length of combustor Lc can be determined as

Vc Vc At A L* A
Lc = = = L* t = * C * t
Ac At Ac Ac C Ac
= 0.29 ´ 10-3 ´ 1732 ´ 2.07 = 1.04 m

8.6 COMBUSTION INSTABILITIES IN LPRE

The combustion process in a liquid-propellant rocket engine occurs inher-
ently under unsteady conditions. Generally, certain level of unsteadiness
occurred within pipe line can lead to low-amplitude, random flow fluc-
tuations to prevail during the operations of liquid rocket engines without
affecting its performance significantly. But in certain situations, liquid-
propellant rocket engine does encounter certain violent unsteady combus-
tion, resulting in irregular pressure fluctuations of large amplitude in the
combustion chamber and nozzle flow. These fluctuations in pressure are in
 Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engines   ◾    281

Pressure spike

Chamber pressure Random fluctuation

Low-frequency High frequency

combustion instability

Time (ms)

FIGURE 8.9 Chamber pressure variation time indicating combustion instabilities

in LPRE.

the acoustic or below acoustic range, caused due to the positive feedback
between the heat release rate during the process of propellant combustion
and flow field disturbance. Figure 8.9 indicates a typical variation of cham-
ber pressure with time of a liquid rocket engine. A liquid rocket engine is
considered to be operated under stable condition, although there will be
random fluctuations in pressure, as shown in Figure 8.9, however, with
lower limits around its mean value. There might be some instances when
a single large amplitude, as shown in Figure 8.9, known as pressure spike
occurs during its operation. If this pressure fluctuation happens to inter-
act with the natural frequency of the feed system or the acoustic frequency
of the combustion chamber, it may lead to the formation of periodic pres-
sure oscillations at certain characteristic frequency. These oscillations may
be amplified or maintained or dampened out by the combustion process.
These sustained oscillations during combustion process in the combustion
chamber are often termed as combustion instability. By carrying out the fast
Fourier transform (FFT) analysis of pressure time history, it can be found
out during combustion instability phase that the pressure fluctuations have
several definite frequencies. In other words, the combustion instabilities
have more natural acoustic frequencies, which can cause several detrimen-
tal effects. As discussed in Chapter 9, depending on the range of frequency,
combustion instability can be broadly classified into three kinds: (1) LFI, (2)
IFI, and (3) HFI. When combustion instability occurs below 400 Hz, then
it is termed as low frequency instability (LFI). This is also known as chug-
ging/system instability, which mainly results due to coupling between the
combustion and propellant feed system. Intermediate frequency instability
282   ◾    Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion

(IFI) is likely to occur in the frequency range of 400–1000 Hz, which is also
known as buzzing/entropy wave. This frequency is believed to be caused
due to pressure fluctuations in injector and manifold caused by flow eddies,
mechanical vibrations of engine, and propellant feed system resonance.
Beyond 1000 Hz, it is known as high frequency instability (HFI), which is
attributed to the coupling between the pressure oscillation and heat release
rate. This is often termed as screaming/screeching. Recall that based on the
predominant acoustic mode, combustion instabilities can be classified into
various types. Generally, three predominant modes, namely, longitudinal
(axial), transverse, and radial modes, and their combinations in different
frequency ranges can occur during the combustion processes in the liquid
rocket engine. We will discuss these modes in liquid rocket engine in subse-
quent sections. Note that sizable combustion oscillations, either periodic or
random, are considered to be detrimental for the overall performance and
life of the liquid rocket engine, because pressure oscillation of 10% about its
mean value can cause a thrust oscillation of 10%–100% of the mean thrust.
Such oscillations can have a coupling with other portions of vehicle and can
develop abnormal stresses on engine components and thus spoil the normal
operation of other onboard systems. The form of self-excited combustion
instability that is linked to the structure of rocket engine is often termed as
POGO, which occurs mainly in large vehicles in the range of a few hertz to
1000 Hz, particularly close to burnout time. That is why, pressure oscillations
in liquid rocket engines greater than its mean value by 5% is considered to be
a serious concern to the designer, which must be avoided at any cost.
We have learnt that low-frequency combustion instability is not deadly
but need to be attended to as it affects the performance of the rocket engine
and is accompanied with chugging sound. The combustion efficiency
decreases by as much as 20% due to the occurrence of low-frequency insta-
bility (LFI). This is mainly caused by the phase difference between feed
system response and combustion chamber pressure oscillation. Hence, it
can be controlled by isolating the pressure oscillation in the combustion
chamber such that it cannot be sensed by the feed system. One way of
accomplishing this is to increase the pressure drop across the injector. The
frequency and the amplitude of this low-frequency instabilities are depen-
dent on the characteristic length L*, the chamber pressure Pc, and the pres-
sure difference across injector ΔPi. Experimentally, it has been observed
that both amplitude and frequency decrease with increase in the charac-
teristic length L*. But with an increase in chamber pressure, amplitude of
instability decreases accompanied with an enhancement in its frequency.
 Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engines   ◾    283

Interestingly, with increase in the pressure difference across injector ΔPi,

although the frequency of instability increases marginally in initial phase,
stability condition is recovered subsequently.

8.6.1 Analysis of Bulk Mode Combustion Instability

The pressure oscillation can occur either over entire volume of combustion
chamber or with different amplitude and phases with different locations
in combustion chamber. We will be restricting our discussion to the bulk
mode of combustion instability, during which bulk gas oscillates as lumped
mass in the entire combustion chamber [2]. Let us consider a simplified
liquid-propellant engine in which propellant with density ρ is injected with
constant injection pressure Pi through injection orifice of Ai. Due to com-
bustion of liquid propellant, gaseous mass is generated in the combustion
chamber. We know that the chamber pressure of rocket engine depends
on the rate of gaseous mass generation during burning of propellant, mass
flow rate expelled through nozzle, and accumulation of gas in the combus-
tion chamber. By using the continuity equation, we can have

dm
=m
 g -m
n (8.16)
dt

where the first term dm/dt in Equation 8.16 represents the rate of mass
accumulation in combustion chamber, m  g is the mass generation due
to propellant burning, and m  n is the mass flow rate leaving through the
nozzle. Recall that certain residence time tr is required before complete
combustion of propellant. Hence, the gas mass flow rate m  g generated dur-
ing combustion corresponds to the mass flow rate of propellant m  p that is
injected before time (t − tr). Hence, Equation 8.16 can be written as

dm
=m
 p ,( t -t r ) - m
n (8.17)
dt

The mass of propellant injected through the injector with cross-sectional

area Ai and discharge coefficient Cd is given by

 p = Cd Ai 2r ( Pi - Pc )
m (8.18)

where
Pi is the injection pressure
Pc is the chamber pressure
284   ◾    Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion

The mass flow rate through the nozzle can be expressed as

At Pc
n =
m (8.19)
C*

where
Pc is the chamber pressure
At is the throat area
C* is the characteristic velocity

By combining Equations 8.16 through 8.19, we can get

dm d ( PcVc /RTc ) é AP
= = Cd Ai 2r ( Pi - Pc ) ù - t * c (8.20)
dt dt ë û t -t r C

We know that chamber pressure fluctuates due to combustion instability.

The chamber pressure Pc can be decomposed into the steady state (Pc ) and
(
fluctuating component (Pc′) of chamber pressure Pc = Pc + Pc ¢ . By substi- )
tuting this in Equation 8.20, we have
dPc RTc é
dt
= ê
Vc ë
ù
Cd Ai 2r Pi - Pc + Pc ¢ ú{ (
û t -t r
)}
-
2 *
(
G C Pc + Pc ¢

as
)
RTc At G2C *
= * (8.21)
*
L Vc C * L

The first term of Equation 8.21 can be simplified as

é Pc ¢ ù
RTc
Vc
é
{ (
êëCd Ai 2r Pi - Pc + Pc
¢
)} ùúû t -t r
=
RTc Pc At
Vc C *
ê1 - ú
ë Pi - Pc û t -tr
Note that Cd Ai 2r ( Pi - Pc ) = Pc At / C * for steady state flow condition.
(8.22)

By using Equation 8.22, we can rewrite Equation 8.21 as

dPc G2C * æç é P¢ ù ö
= * Pc ê1 - c ú - Pc ÷ (8.23)
dt L ç
è ë Pi - Pc û t -tr ÷
ø
Note that L*/(Γ2C*) is the nondimensional time, which can be considered
as residence time tr of propellant in the combustion chamber. Using the
residence time and expanding root term in Equation 8.23, we can get
 Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engines   ◾    285

dPc Pc é 1 æ Pc ¢ öù Pc
= ê1 - ç ÷ú - (8.24)
dt t r êë 2 è Pi - Pc ø úû t -tr t r

By defining the nondimensional pressure perturbation as y = Pc ¢ /Pc ,

Equation 8.24 can be expressed as

dPc Pc Pc (1 + b ) Pc
= éë1 - by ùû t -t - ; b= (8.25)
dt t r r tr 2 ( Pi - Pc )

By simplifying, this expression can be expressed in terms of nondimen-

sional pressure perturbation ψ as follows:

dy y byt -tc
+ + = 0; as Pc = Pc + Pc¢ = Pc (1 + y ) (8.26)
dt t r tr

Let us express the nondimensional pressure perturbation ψ in terms of

growth of perturbation α and angular velocity ω, as follows:

y = Ae (
a +iw)t
(8.27)

Note that the growth constant α is less than zero, pressure perturbation
decreases with time. In contrast for α > 0, the amplitude of pressure oscilla-
tions grows with time. Of course for α = 0 the amplitude of pressure oscil-
lations remains constant with time.
By solving Equation 8.27, we can derive expression for combustion
delay time tC and residence time tr corresponding to the stable condition
(α = 0) as

p - tan -1 b2 - 1
tC = (8.28)
w

b2 - 1
tr = (8.29)
w

By using Equations 8.27 and 8.28,

tC
=
(
p - tan -1 b2 - 1 ) (8.30)
tr b2 - 1
286   ◾    Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion

It can be noted that for large values of β, combustion instability is likely to

occur at lower combustion delay or larger residence time. In contrast, com-
bustion instability occurs for large combustion delay or small residence
time when β is greater than unity. The condition for unstable combustion
is given by

tC
>
(
p - tan -1 b2 - 1 ) (8.31)
tr b2 - 1

In other words, for this condition the combustion instability can occur
when ( DPi / Pc ) < 1/2. Note that this injection pressure drop, ΔPi, depends
on the chamber pressure and feed line pressure. In order to avoid the bulk
mode of combustion instability, pressure drop across injector ΔPi must
be less than half of the average chamber pressure. This is known as the
Summerfield criterion for combustion stability which can be rewritten for
fuel and oxidizer streams of bipropellant rocket engine as

( DPi )F 1 ( DPi )ox MR

> ; > ; (8.32)
P 1 + MR P 1 + MR
where MR is the mixture ratio, which is defined as the ratio of the oxi-
dizer flow rate m Ox to the fuel flow rate m
 F . A smaller combustion chamber
(smaller residence time) that uses less reactive propellant (large delay time)
is less prone to this bulk mode of combustion instability.

Example 8.3
In a liquid-propellant rocket engine, propellant is injected into its
combustion chamber of 0.5 m length at pressure of 1.2 MPa with pres-
sure drop of 0.4 MPa. If the combustion delay time and residence time
happen to be around 12 and 4.5 ms, respectively, determine its fre-
quency of oscillation. Is it subjected to combustion instability or not?

Solution
We know that for stable combustion bulk mode, the criterion is given
by Equation 8.30:

tC
=
(
p - tan -1 b2 - 1
=
) (
p - tan -1 (1.118
= 2.06
)
tr b2 - 1 1.118
 Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engines   ◾    287

But we can evaluate β as

Pc 1. 2
b= = = 1.5; b2 - 1 = 1.52 - 1 = 1.118;
2 ( Pi - Pc ) 2 ´ 0.4

The ratio of combustion delay and residence time can be evaluated as

t C 12
= = 2.67
t r 4. 5

Hence, the combustion instability will occur for this condition.

The frequency of combustion oscillation is determined by using
Equation 8.28, as given in the following:

p - tan -1 b2 - 1 w
w= = 191.58 rad/s; f = = 30.51 Hz
tC 2p

8.6.2 Control of Combustion Instability

In the last section, we have learnt about the analytical method by which
probability of certain modes of combustion that can occur in liquid-
propellant combustion chamber can be predicted to some extent. But we
need to make certain physical changes to avoid the occurrence of com-
bustion instability during its entire operating range. Based on physical
changes, the methodologies of controlling combustion instabilities can be
broadly divided into three categories: (a) chemical, (b) aerodynamic, and
(c) mechanical.

8.6.2.1 Chemical Method
In this method, chemical additives are used to dampen the heat release
profile in the combustion chamber by a factor of 2 or more. The type of
additives is specific to the propellant. Besides this, this chemical addi-
tive can augment the droplet shattering, and thus alters the heat release
profile to dampen the combustion oscillations. It has an advantage that
no changes in hardware are called for to control combustion instabilities,
unlike in other methods.

8.6.2.2 Aerodynamic Method
The combustion instability can be minimized by changing the prevailing
aerodynamic of the combustion chamber, which can be carried out by the
288   ◾    Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion

introduction of tangential velocity, nonuniform distribution of droplets,

changes in location of injectors and the angle and orifice sizes of the injec-
tion elements, and so on. Besides this, a change in the injector design can
affect the prevailing pattern of atomization that can lead to altering the
heat release profile such that it can prevent the occurrence of combustion
instability. The designer can use larger diameter orifice for injector for
same mass flow rate such that the injection velocity can get reduced such
that atomization takes place longer distance to complete to avoid pressure
oscillations. Another way is to reduce the pressure drop across the injector
such that larger droplets are being formed to reduce the heat release rate
and this dampens the combustion instability. The designer has to move the
velocity gradient point downstream or to increase Ac/At such that vapor-
ization rate can be slowed down so that heat release occurs over longer
axial distance than that of concentrated region, which prevents occurrence
of combustion instability.

8.6.2.3 Mechanical Method
In this method, several mechanical fixtures, namely, baffles, acoustic
dampers, ablative liners, and so on are devised to prevent high-frequency
oscillations in liquid-propellant combustion chamber. Generally, baffles at
the injector head, as shown in Figure 8.10, are provided to dampen the
destructive mode of combustion oscillations. Besides this, they can prevent
the higher mode of oscillations to derive energy from the mean flow to sus-
tain their further growth. These are mainly designed on the assumptions

Baffles

Baffle/spoke

Hub

(a) (b)

FIGURE 8.10 Types of baffles: (a) radial and (b) hub and spoke.
 Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engines   ◾    289

that highest heat release rate (chemical reactions zone) that drives the
combustion oscillations occurs near the injector face. It is believed that it
minimizes the coupling between the heat release rate and acoustic oscil-
lations and thus reduces the amplification of gas dynamic forces within
combustion chamber. Hence, the depth of the baffles must be selected such
that they can cover the heat release zone. As they are placed in the highest
heat release zone, they must be strong enough to resist the thermal load
even under pressure oscillations conditions. But the depth of the baffles
should be such that individual compartments of combustion zone must
not be created with their own acoustic characteristics. Note that odd num-
ber of baffles is being used by most designers as even number of baffles
can enhance standing modes of combustion instability. Generally, baffles
are more effective for both radial and tangential modes of oscillations. The
transverse acoustic modes of oscillations can be minimized by provid-
ing certain number of radial baffles with sufficient depth along the axis
of the combustion chamber. During the transverse mode of combustion
oscillations, acoustic energy is being lost due to high-velocity turbulent
flow at the tips of baffles. Based on empirical design, several possible baf-
fles, shown in Figure 8.10, have been evolved, which are being deployed
in rocket engines. In order to avoid radial modes of oscillations, circular
baffles with radial blades can be employed such that standing waves can
be interrupted easily. Based on experimental studies, certain guidelines
for baffle design have been developed particularly for number of baffles
and their depths. It has been observed that the spinning tangential mode
of oscillation can be eliminated using a two-bladed baffle, while first and
second tangential modes can be avoided using three-blade baffle design.
A periodically arranged four-blade baffle can be deployed to reduce second
tangential mode of oscillations. The blade depth of 15%–30% of the cham-
ber diameter with lower sizes with large diameter LPR engine is preferred
to dampen oscillations.
Another way of dampening the combustion oscillation is to absorb the
energy in the combustion chamber. Generally, artificial acoustic absorbers
such as acoustic liners and discrete cavities are devised, which can be used
along the wall of the combustor or near the injector. It can be noted that
cavities are being used routinely particularly at the corner of the injector
face as pressure antinode exists for almost all resonant modes of vibration,
including longitudinal, tangential, radial, and combination of these oscil-
lations and velocity oscillations attains a minimum value.
290   ◾    Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion

8.7 IGNITION SYSTEMS
The combustion of liquid propellants in the thrust chamber can be ini-
tiated by a suitable ignition system. Several ignition systems for both
thrust chamber and gas generator have been designed and developed
over the years for successful applications in rocket engines. Proper selec-
tion of ignition system depends on the nature and phase of propellants,
need for restart, system safety, altitude relight capability, weight, and space
considerations. For example, with regard to hypergolic propellants, bet-
ter mixing of propellants can be good enough to ignite them. But in case
of bipropellant, rapid, reliable ignition of incoming propellants must be
ensured before propellants are accumulated in the combustion chamber.
Otherwise, if ignition delay is too large, ignition of accumulated propellant
can lead to explosion. Note that proper ignition of liquid propellants in the
thrust chamber is dependent on proper selection of the ignition method,
quality of design, and integrity of ignition system.
As mentioned earlier, the main function of igniter is to supply requi-
site but sufficient amount of heat energy to initiate the chemical reactions
in the main propellant. Generally, igniter draws its energy from the lim-
ited stored energy onboard with the rocket engine to initiate combustion.
Besides, it is essential to have flow of propellant during ignition. Generally,
the starting propellant flow rate is kept lower than the full flow rate, which
not only smoothens the ignition process but also prevents an excessive
accumulation of unignited propellants. As a result, a quite different fuel/
oxidizer mixture ratio around stoichiometric condition is maintained for
successful ignition of propellant mixture, because initial vaporization and
mixing of propellants happen to be poor due to low starting injection
velocity of propellant. It is essential that once propellant is ignited, it must
remain on combustion mode as it acts as pilot ignition source for fresh
propellant entering into the thrust chamber. Although several igniters have
been devised and used in various liquid-propellant rocket engines, we will
restrict our discussion to the following five types of igniters: (1) catalytic
igniter, (2) hypergolic igniters, (3) spark plug and spark-torch igniters, and
(4) resonance igniters.

1. Catalytic igniter: In rocket engines, catalysts are used mainly to ini-

tiate and sustain the combustion of monopropellants. For example,
potassium permanganate/potassium solution was used as a catalyst
for initiating combustion of hydrogen peroxide in V2 ballistic missile
during the Second World War. Subsequently, these liquid catalysts
 Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engines   ◾    291

Catalytic bed Fuel

H2 Hypergolic slug
O2
H2 Oxidizer
(a) (b)

Electrode
Resonator cavity

Insulator H2 O2

Sonic orifice

Ground electrode
(c) (d) Torch outlet

FIGURE 8.11 Types of igniter: (a) catalytic, (b) hypergolic, (c) spark plug, and
(d) resonance.

were abandoned due to complicated valve timing and interlocking

devices. Rather, these are replaced by solid catalysts; liquid mono-
propellant is passed through solid catalyst bed for initiation of com-
bustion. Since hydrogen peroxide has lower Isp, it is used along with
solid catalyst for igniting other liquid propellants. In recent times,
catalyst igniter is emerging as an alternative to the augmented spark
ignition system, even for hydrogen and oxygen systems. A typical
catalyst ignition system for hydrogen–oxygen mixture is shown in
Figure 8.11a, in which gaseous mixture of hydrogen and oxygen will
have to pass through properly designed catalyst bed for igniting this
mixture. For this purpose, any of three reliable and durable catalysts,
namely, platinum, iridium, and palladium, can be used in igniting
hydrogen/oxygen mixture. Efforts are being made to develop better
catalyst, which must have a longer life with least cost.
2. Hypergolic igniters: Recall that the term “hypergolic” means occur-
rence of spontaneous initiation of overall exothermic chemical reac-
tion when two hypergolic propellants come in contact with each
other. On successful ignition, a signal is sent to actuate remotely
controlled valves for propellant feed line for supplying the main
292   ◾    Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion

propellants to combustion chamber to get requisite thrust. But it suf-

fers from problems of clumsiness, frequent clogging of feed lines, and
need to eject a large amount of solid materials. In order to overcome
this problem, a small amount of fluid that is hypergolic with one of
the propellants is stored in a cylindrical cartridge, as shown in Figure
8.11b. The diaphragm of this cartridge gets ruptured when requisite
pressure is applied to it for the initiation of ignition. Generally, this
loaded cartridge is placed as a bypass to the high-pressure main feed
line. Note that a fuel that is hypergolic to the oxidizer is preferred
over the opposite combination in actual practice. On the initiation
of oxidizer valve, the pump supplies oxidizer, raising its pressure,
which ruptures the diaphragm of the hypergolic propellant cartridge
leading to spontaneous ignition. Subsequently, main fuel propellant
is fed into combustion chamber to sustain ignition flame to reach
main stage level. Triethylaluminum, a room-temperature storable
liquid, is preferred in rocket engine as it is easily hypergolic with liq-
uid oxygen with higher ignition delay characteristics. But it produces
tenacious residue, which affects subsequent combustion. Hence, it is
mixed with another liquid known as triethylboron, which has rela-
tively lower ignition delay characteristics. It has been established that
10%–15% of triethylaluminum by weight is mixed with triethylboron
to obtain a satisfactory ignition delay characteristic with liquid oxy-
gen while producing an acceptable residue. Organometallic hypergol
slug is being used routinely for the ignition of main propellants RP1/
LOX, which are being used in several spacecraft, namely, Atlas, Delta,
F1, and so on. Organometallic liquids are not only hypergolic but
also hypophoric with liquid oxygen. Besides these, reactive oxidizers,
namely, gaseous fluorine and chlorine tri-fluoride, have been found
to be very effective ignition systems particularly in research engines.
The quantity of hypergol required for successful ignition of liquid
propellants is dependent on the feed system, start sequence, and level
of thrust delivered by rocket engine. The selection of proper hyper-
golic ignition system is dependent on the safety requirement, level of
thrust delivered by rocket engine, ignition reliability, cost, packaging,
and ease of handling.
3. Spark plug and Spark-torch igniters: Spark ignition system can be eas-
ily used in liquid-propellant rocket engines in which initial energy
required for ignition is provided by producing spark with help of
 Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engines   ◾    293

high-tension and low-tension capacitive discharge system. A typical

spark plug ignition system with integral ignition exciter is shown in
Figure 8.11c. It consists of dual gap spark plug, ceramic metal seals,
high-voltage transformer, storage capacitor, and electronic circuit mod-
ule. Generally, proper gap between electrodes has to be maintained for
successful discharging of electrical energy for proper ignition to occur.
A properly designed capacitor-discharge ignition system can man-
age to ignite a chilled combustion chamber in space even at chamber
pressure of 2.5 MPa. A typical spark igniter exciter can deliver energy
around 350 mJ per spark when high-voltage order of 20 kV or more
is applied to its electrodes. But around 100 mJ per spark is produced
at the spark plug tip. Note that electrical power for this system is gen-
erally supplied from onboard battery. Generally, spark plug, ignition
exciter, and high-voltage components are packed in a high-pressure-
sealed enclosure so that it can operate even in near-vacuum condition,
especially in space. But it has limitation of igniting large rocket engines
due to heat losses. In order to overcome this problem, the spark-torch
igniter has been designed and developed, in which small amount of
engine propellants are fed into spark-torch igniter. Of course, com-
bustion is initiated using spark plug. The flame with copious amount
of high-temperature and high-pressure gases is ejected out to ignite
the main propellants in the thrust chamber. In order to augment igni-
tion capability, an augmented spark igniter, as shown Figure 8.11c, has
been designed and developed. In this, fuel is injected through multiple
tangentially aligned orifices for ignition combustion. Of course, spark
plugs are placed upstream of fuel injection orifices around recircula-
tion zone for ensuring successful and rapid ignition. The combustion
chamber of this igniter can have a convergent or straight duct that can
supply high-temperature gas to the main thrust chamber. The torch
igniter size varies from 10 to 35 mm diameter, depending on the thrust
level of rocket engines. This kind of igniter can be placed as assembly
onto injector end or any other place. Generally, it is mounted on the
centerline of the injector as it provides better performance.
The torch igniter can provide a large number of ignitions even in
high altitude as compared to spark plug. It can also operate satisfac-
torily over a wide range of propellant flow rates and mixture ratios.
In recent times, spark torch has been miniaturized, which can be
employed in smaller rocket engines.
294   ◾    Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion

4. Resonance igniters: In this igniter, resonance heating created from the

flow of high-pressure gas is used to ignite liquid propellant. A typical
sketch of resonance igniter is shown in Figure 8.11d, which consists
of propellant supply line, sonic orifice, mixing chamber, and resona-
tor cavity. In this igniter, high gas (hydrogen) is introduced through
sonic nozzle that is expanded in mixing chamber and subsequently
directed to the resonator cavity in which it is cyclically compressed
and expanded. As result, the temperature of this gas is raised at the
close end of this cavity. This high-temperature gas can be mixed with
spilled gas and is exhausted through the torch outlet. Hydrogen gas
temperature as high as 1400 K could be generated by this method
within 60 ms. After fuel has reached certain threshold high tempera-
ture, oxidizer is introduced to the hot zone, causing ignition of this
mixture. Note that this concept can not only be used for H2/LOX
system but also for other premixed propellant combinations. Several
types of resonance igniters have been designed and developed
successfully.

8.8 COOLING SYSTEMS
We know that heat release in the case of rocket engine is quite high, in
the order of 30,000 MW/m3. As a result, temperature in the range of
3000–3500 K prevails in the combustion chamber of liquid-propellant
engine, which is much higher than the melting temperature of most avail-
able metal alloys used for rocket engines. Recall that strength of wall mate-
rials decreases at high temperature, which is likely to fail structurally under
high temperature and pressure condition. Of course one can use thicker
wall to circumvent the problem of heating which is allowed in rocket
design as it is essential to minimize the mass of vehicle at particular oper-
ating condition. Hence, cooling system is used to lower the wall tempera-
ture of combustion chamber and nozzle. The most vulnerable part of the
rocket engine is the throat of the nozzle where heat transfer rates are one
order of magnitude higher than the exit portion of exhaust nozzle. Several
methods such as (1) regenerative cooling, (2) film/sweat cooling, and (3)
ablative cooling have been adopted for cooling of rocket engines, which are
discussed in the following.

8.8.1 Regenerative Cooling
This is the most widely used cooling system for liquid-propellant rocket
engine. In this case, liquid fuel/oxidizer is employed as a coolant, which
 Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engines   ◾    295

Liquid fuel

F Fuel
Ox Ox
F Fuel

(a) (b) Liquid fuel

Liquid fuel
Graphite

F F Carbon
Ox Film Ox phenolic
F F
Porous wall
(c) (d) Silica phenolic

FIGURE 8.12 Schematic of cooling system: (a) regenerative cooling, (b) film
cooling, (c) transpiration cooling, and (d) ablative cooling.

is allowed to pass through the passages placed outside of the combustion

chamber and nozzle, as shown in Figure 8.12a, before being fed into thrust
chamber. As a result, heat is transferred to the incoming propellant from
the combustion hot gases and enhances its enthalpy. Since the heat from hot
gases are reused as in regenerative cycle of power plant, this kind of cooling
system is known as regenerative cooling system. This method of cooling
is used in several rocket engines such as Saturn vehicle and Apollo mis-
sions. Generally, in this system, array of suitably shaped tubes are brazed
to the walls of the thrust chamber of liquid-propellant rocket engine that
are supported by steel bands. In case of cryogenic engine, hydrogen is used
as a coolant for regenerative cooling system, because the pressure of the
hydrogen is much above the critical pressure of boiling and avoids boiling
during regenerative cooling. As a result, liquid hydrogen is continuously
converted into hydrogen gas, which can enhance heat transfer rate due to
its higher thermal diffusivity.

8.8.2 Film/Sweat Cooling
In this film cooling process, a thin film of coolant is formed on the inner
side wall of the thrust chamber, as shown in Figure 8.12b, which acts as
an insulating layer. Note that the coolant on the film absorbs heat from
the hot gases due to both sensible and latent heat absorption. As a result,
296   ◾    Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion

the temperature of film is much lower than that of the hot combustion
products. This is an effective way to protect the wall of the thrust cham-
ber from hot gases by directing the cooling air into boundary layer to
provide a protective cool film along the surface. In certain practical sys-
tems, injectors are designed such that fuel-rich mixture layer prevails
near the inner wall of the thrust chamber. The temperature of this fuel-
rich mixture layer is much lower than that of the oxidizer-rich mixture
in the core of thrust chamber. Besides this, fuel-rich mixture as film
layer is preferred over oxidizer-rich mixture as oxidation of metal can be
reduced drastically.
The effect of film cooling is dependent on the coolant mass flow rate,
velocity of coolant, number of rows of cooling holes, and so on. If too
much coolant is injected into boundary layer or its velocity is too high,
then the coolant may penetrate into the boundary layer, defeating the
main purpose of using film cooling. In order to overcome this problem,
sweat/transpiration cooling method, shown in Figure 8.12c, can be used,
in which the cooling air is forced through porous walls of thrust chamber
into boundary layer to form relatively cool, insulating film. This is consid-
ered to be the most efficient cooling technique, but it is not being used in
practice due to nonavailability of suitable porous materials that can with-
stand high-temperature and high-pressure gases in the thrust chamber.
Note that the pores should be small to enhance cooling rate. However,
this can lead to pore blockage due to soot particles or foreign material.
It is also more economical as only 1.5%–2% of the total coolant (fuel/­
oxidizer) mass flow rate can reduce, the blade temperature in the range of
200°C–300°C.

8.8.3 Ablative Cooling
In this cooling system, insulating material that melts and vaporizes at
high temperature is used on the combustion gas side walls of the thrust
chamber. As a result, lower wall temperature as compared to combus-
tion product gas temperature is maintained, as its temperature remains
almost constant corresponding to melting point. This kind of cooling, in
which thermal erosion is used to maintain low temperature, is known as
ablative cooling (see Figure 8.12d). Besides this, ablative material being
good thermal insulator allows low rate of heat transfer to the outer struc-
ture. Some ablative composite materials from epoxies, unsaturated poly-
ester, phenolic resin along with silica and carbon fibers are produced for
use in rocket engines. Two popular composites, namely, carbon phenolic
 Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engines   ◾    297

and silica phenolic, which ablate around 1400 K, are being used in rocket
engines. However, silica phenolic is being preferred in current times
due to its higher thermal insulating characteristics and higher oxidation
resistance. The inner wall of the thrust chamber is lined with a layer of
ablative composites, as shown in Figure 8.12d, which protects it from
high-temperature hot gases in the thrust chamber. The ablative cooling
system is being used in solid propellant and low chamber pressure liquid
propellant short-duration rocket engines.

8.9 HEAT TRANSFER ANALYSIS FOR COOLING SYSTEMS

We need to determine heat transfer from combustion product hot gas in
either combustion chamber or nozzle to its respective wall. However, it
is quite difficult and complex to estimate accurately the amount of heat
transfer as it is affected by boundary layer thickness. Recall that bound-
ary layer thickness is dependent on the type of flow, fluid, wall curvature,
pressure gradient, temperature gradient, and so on. In case of nozzle, the
flow will be accelerating across it. The boundary layer thickness decreases
along flow direction to a minimum value at the throat of nozzle and subse-
quently increases marginally in divergent portion of nozzle. Hence, maxi-
mum heat transfer occurs at the throat of nozzle. In order to estimate the
convective heat transfer, one has to solve the Navier–Stokes equation along
with energy equation, which, being nonlinear and coupled in nature, is
quite cumbersome to solve. Besides this, one has to invoke conjugate heat
transfer equations for getting accurate prediction. However, we will resort
to quasi-one-dimensional heat transfer analysis, as depicted in Figure 8.13,

Hot gas

Ttg
Vg2
2CP Tg

Twc Tc
Twh

Coolant

∆L

FIGURE 8.13 Schematic of one-dimensional steady heat transfer model.

298   ◾    Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion

which indicates steady-state heat transfer through the combustion cham-

ber wall with coolant flowing in the ducts placed on outer side. The hot gas
with velocity Vg and temperature Tg is flowing over the inner wall of thrust
chamber whose velocity and temperature profiles are shown in Figure 8.13.
If the wall happens to be adiabatic, the adiabatic wall temperature Twa is
expected to be equal to total gas temperature Ttg. But if the gas flow velocity
happens to be supersonic, the slowing down of gas near wall would not be
adiabatic. Note that there will be heat transfer from the gas near the wall
region with higher static temperature to the adjacent static temperature
gas away from the wall. As a result, the temperature of gas at the wall will
be lower than Ttg, as shown in Figure 8.14. Besides this, Ttg will increase
slightly away from the adiabatic wall, as shown in Figure 8.14, to satisfy
steady flow energy equation. In order to relate the Twa to Ttg, we can define
recovery factor RF as

Twa - Tg
RF = (8.33)
Ttg - Tg

For subsonic flow, RF is equal to 1.0, while for supersonic flow, RF will be
less than 1.0. Note the supersonic flow prevails in the exhaust nozzle for
rocket engine. For Mach number 4.0, RF is found out to be 0.91 [4]. At the
throat of rocket engine, sonic condition prevails, as flow is considered to be

Adiabatic wall
(Q = 0)
Ttg
Twa

T Vg2
2CP

Tg

FIGURE 8.14 Schematic of adiabatic wall temperature for defining recovery

factor.
 Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engines   ◾    299

choked. By considering γ of hot gas to be 1.25, we can determine Tg*, given

as follows:

æ 2 ö æ 2 ö
Tg* = Ttg çç ÷÷ = 3000 ç ÷ = 2666 K (8.34)
g
è g + 1 ø è 1.25 + 1 ø

For Ttg = 3000 K, RF = 0.91, we can determine Twa as follows:

( )
Twa = Tg* + RF Ttg - Tg* = 2970 K (8.35)

The difference between Twa and Ttg happens to be within 1% error, which
falls within experimental error. Hence, we can assume Twa to be equal to
Ttg at the throat of nozzle.
By considering one-dimensional steady flow heat transfer, we can deter-
mine convection heat transfer rate per unit as H ²g , given as follows:

H ²g = hg (Twa - Twh ) (8.36)

where
hg is the heat transfer coefficient of hot gas
Twa is the wall temperature under adiabatic condition
Twh is the well temperature on hot gas side

Besides, heat transfer from the hot gases to the well can also take place due
to radiative heat transfer mode. Note that same amount of heat transferred
from hot gas to the wall due to both radiative convection heat transfer
modes will be transferred to cold side of wall due to heat conduction under
steady-state condition. By considering one-dimensional heat transfer due
to conduction through the wall, we can determine H w² as

dT kw (Twh - Twc )
H w² = -kw = (8.37)
dx DL

where
kw is the thermal conductivity of wall
Twc is the wall temperature on the coolant side
ΔL is the wall thickness
300   ◾    Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion

As the coolant flows through the coolant passage, heat has to transfer from
wall to the coolant due to convection. This convective heat transfer rate per
unit area due to convection of coolant H c² can be determined as

H c² = hc (Twc - Tc ) (8.38)

where
Tc is the coolant (liquid) temperature on free stream side
hc is the convective heat transfer coefficient of coolant

It is quite cumbersome to determine radiative heat flux H r² due to com-

plexities in geometric and various modes, namely, absorption, reflection,
and radiation mechanisms of heat transfer. Besides this, nonuniform tem-
perature condition prevails both in combustion chamber and nozzle. The
combustion gas contains several product gases, namely, CO, CO2, H2O,
and so on, which can radiate heat in discrete spectrum. Hence, determina-
tion of radiative heat transfer rate per unit area is quite complex. But we
will resort to a simple model, for which total radiative heat flux rate can be
estimated as

H r² = e g sTg4 (8.39)

where
εg is the emissivity of gas considering complexities of geometry and gas
properties
σ is the Stefan–Boltzmann constant (5.687 × 10−8 W/m2 ⋅ K4)
Tg is the gas temperature

The wall is assumed to be a black body without any emission of radiation.

Note that hot gases in rocket engine do contain solid/liquid particles that
contribute appreciable amount of radiative energy to the wall. The contri-
bution of the radiative heat transfer happens to be in the range of 5%–40%,
depending on the gas temperature and composition.
By considering steady one-dimensional heat transfer for regenerative
cooling, we can have a heat balance across combustion chamber wall with
regenerative cooling passage as

H ² = H ²g + H r² = H w² = H c² (8.40)
 Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engines   ◾    301

By using Equation 8.36, we can recast Equation 8.40 as follows:

H ² = hg (Twa - Twh ) + H r² (8.41)

By using Equations 8.37, 8.38 and 8.40, we can have

DL DL DL H ²
Twh = H w² + Twc = H ² + Twc = H ² + + Tc (8.42)
kw kw kw hc

By using Equations 8.41 and 8.42, we can express

H ² =
(Twa - Tc ) + H r² /hg (8.43)
1 DL 1
+ +
hg kw hc

This one-dimensional steady analysis can be extended for complex con-

figuration by considering effective area on both hot gas and coolant side,
which can be higher than actual area. Hence, Equation 8.40 can be modi-
fied as follows:

( )
H ² Ag = H ²g + H r² Ag = H w² Aw = H c² Ac (8.44)

where
Ag is the gas side area
Aw is the effective wall area
Ac is the effective coolant side area

This equation can be rewritten as

H ² =
(Twa - Tc ) + H r² /hg (8.45)
1 Ag DL Ag
+ +
hg Aw kw Ac hc

We need to determine the heat transfer coefficient for both hot gas and
coolant flow. The empirical relationship for Nusselt number Nu from the
302   ◾    Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion

heat transfer literature that can be used for hot gas flow can be expressed in
terms of Reynolds number Re and Prandtl number Pr as follows:

0. 8 0. 4
hg D g æ rVD ö æ mC p ö
Nu g = = 0.026Re 0g.8 Prg0.4 = 0.026 ç ÷ ç ÷ (8.46)
kg è m øg è k øg

where
D is the local diameter of combustion chamber/nozzle
k is the thermal conductivity
μ is the viscosity
ρ is the density
V is the flow velocity
Cp is the specific heat corresponding to gas

Note that fluid properties are dependent on the gas temperature, which
is generally evaluated at average film temperature Tf between Tg and Twh
(Tf = 0.5(Tg + Twh)). The coolant side heat transfer coefficient can be evalu-
ated by using empirical relation, as given in the following:
0. 8 0.33
hD æ rVD ö æ mC p ö
Nuc = c c = 0.023Rec0.8 Prc0.33 = 0.023 ç ÷ ç ÷ (8.47)
kc è m øc è k øc

where
D is the local hydraulic diameter of combustion chamber/nozzle
k is the thermal conductivity
μ is the viscosity
ρ is the density
V is the flow velocity
Cp is the specific heat corresponding to coolant

From Equation 8.47, we can express heat transfer coefficient hc in terms of

coolant mass flux and specific heat as
-0.2 -0.67
hc æ rVD ö æ mC p ö
= 0.023 ( Re )c ( Pr )c
-0.2 -0.67
= 0.023 ç ÷ ç ÷ (8.48)
( rVC p )c è m øc è k øc

It can be observed from this expression that heat transfer coefficient of

coolant increases with coolant mass flux and specific heat for a fixed
 Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engines   ◾    303

value of Re and Pr. Hence, designer can choose coolant with higher spe-
cific heat to have maximum heat transfer. Generally, hydrogen is chosen
in rocket engine as coolant as it has higher specific heat. Recall that maxi-
mum heat transfer rate per unit area occurs at the throat of the nozzle;
hence, higher coolant flux can be used to augment the heat transfer coef-
ficient by choosing proper cross-sectional area of the coolant passage.
The density of coolant being constant, coolant velocity is to be increased
by decreasing cross-sectional area of the coolant passage at the throat
region. Generally, coolant velocity in the range of 15–25 m/s is used in
throat region.

Example 8.4
The combustion chamber with 0.45 m diameter of a liquid propel-
lant engine is cooled by regenerative cooling to maintain its outer
wall temperature at 300 K. The temperature and the pressure of com-
bustion chamber are maintained constant at 3000 K and 0.75 MPa,
respectively. The heat loss due to gas radiation happened to be 25%
of total heat loss. If the wall thickness happens to be 5.2 mm with
thermal conductivity of 21 W/m ⋅ K, determine inner wall tempera-
ture under steady-state condition. Consider Re = 106 , Pr  = 0.73 ,
kg = 0.17 W/m ⋅ K.

Solution
We know by Equation 8.40, the heat flux through the wall can be
expressed as

H w = H r + hg (Ttg - Twh ) (A)

H
As H r = w , then from Equation A we can have
4
4
H w = hg (Ttg - Twh ) (B)
3

Ttg - Twh
H w = (C)
é DL 4 ù
ê1 + k 3 hg ú
ë w û
304   ◾    Fundamentals of Rocket Propulsion

We evaluate the hg from semiempirical relationship (Equation 8.46) as

kg 0.17
( ) (0.73)
0. 8
0.026 ( Re ) ( Pr ) =
0. 8 0. 4 0. 4
hg = 0.026 106
D 0.45
= 546.44 W/m2 × s

Dividing Equation B by (C), we can get

3
Ttg - Twh
=
4h g
=
( 0.75/546.44 ) = 0.85 (D)
Ttg - TwC é 3 DL ù é 0.75 5.2 ´ 10-3 ù
ê + ú ê + ú
ë 4hg kw û ë 546.44 21 û

From Equation D, we can determine Twh as

Twh = 3000 - 0.85 ( 3000 - 250 ) = 705 K

REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What are the differences between liquid-propellant and solid-
propellant rocket engines?
2. What are the advantages of liquid-propellant engine over solid-
propellant rocket engine?
3. What are the disadvantages of liquid-propellant engine over solid-
propellant rocket engine?
4. What is a monopropellant rocket engine? How is it different from
bipropellant rocket engine? What are its applications?
5. What is hypergolic propellant combustion? How is it different from
nonhypergolic propellant combustion?
6. Define combustion delay time? How is it different from chemical
delay time?
7. Define chemical delay time? How can it be determined for liquid
propellant?
8. What do you mean by characteristic length L*? How is it different
from combustion chamber length?