Jet and Rocket

propulsion
By
Dr.S.Narasimha Kumar
 Gas turbines

The turbojet engine consists of three main sections: the diffuser,

the gas generator, and the nozzle.
The diffuser placed before the compressor decelerates the
incoming air relative to the engine. A pressure rise known as the
ram effect is associated with this deceleration.

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 Gas turbines

The gas generator section consists of a compressor, combustor,

and turbine, with the same functions as the corresponding
components of a stationary gas turbine power plant.
The gases leave the turbine at a pressure significantly greater
than atmospheric and expand through the nozzle to a high
velocity before being discharged to the surroundings.
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 CLASSIFICATIONS
• Air-Breathing Systems • Rocket Propulsion
– Also called duct propulsion. – Vehicle carries own fuel and
– Vehicle carries own fuel; oxidizer, or other expelled propellant
surrounding air (an oxidizer) is to generate thrust:
used for combustion and thrust – operate outside of the Earth’s
Can
generation atmosphere
– turbine engines on aircraft…
Gas –
Launch vehicles, upper stages, Earth
orbiting satellites and interplanetary
spacecraft … or

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 Propulsion Devices (Engines)
Air-Breathing
Rockets
Use atmospheric
air (+ some fuel) Carry entire propellant
as main (liquid/solid fuel + oxygen)
propellant

Piston, Gas Turbine and

Ramjet Engines

Gas Turbine Engines (most aircraft jet engines):

•Use high-temperature gases to power a propeller or produce
direct thrust by expanding and accelerating the exhaust gases
through a nozzle.
•Three main types: Turbojet, Turbofan and
Turboprop

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 Jet Engines – Basic Operation
•Air enters the trough the intake duct (cowl).

•Air compressed by passage through the compressor.

• Mixed with fuel in the combustion chamber.
• Fuel is ignited, Pressure and Temperature raised

• Some of the pressure used to turn a turbine;

• Turbine shaft drives the compressor.

• Hot, high pressure air forced through a nozzle.

• The reaction force is the engine thrust.
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Jet Engine – Common Types

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 Jet Engine – Common Types
• Turbojets:
• Turbine used to drive the compressor.
•All intake air passes through the combustion chamber and exits through the nozzle.
•All thrust produced by hot, high-speed exhaust gases.

• Turbofans (Fan-Jet):
• A large propeller in the intake cowl, in front of compressor.
•Dramatically increases the amount of air pulled in the intake.
•Only a small percentage passed through the engine, the rest of cold air is
Bypassed.
•Part of the thrust through the hot exhaust gases and part by the cold bypassed air.
Produces cooler exhausts and quieter engines.
•High by-pass ratio are most commonly used in larger commercial aircraft.

• Turboprops:
• Jet engine used to turn a large propeller, which produces most (90% or more) of
the thrust. Used in smaller aircraft.

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 Various engine types:
Turbofan, Propjet, Ramjet, Sacramjet, Rocket

A turboprop
engine.

A ramjet
engine.

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PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION

• Intake
– Slow down incoming air
– Remove distortions
• Compressor
– Dynamically Compress air
• Combustor
– Heat addition through
chemical reaction
• Turbine
– Run the compressor
• Nozzle/ Free Turbine
– Generation of thrust
power/shaft power
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Modifications to Turbojet Engines
The first airplanes built were all propeller-driven, with propellers powered by engines
essentially identical to automobile engines.
Both propeller-driven engines and jet-propulsion-driven engines have their own
strengths and limitations, and several attempts have been made to combine the
desirable characteristics of both in one engine.
Two such modifications are the propjet engine and the turbofan engine.

The most widely used engine in aircraft propulsion is the turbofan (or fanjet) engine
wherein a large fan driven by the turbine forces a considerable amount of air
through a duct (cowl) surrounding the engine.

A
turbofan
engine.

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 HOW ROCKET ENGINES OPERATE
• Newton’s three laws of motion as they apply to rocketry.
• The first law states that when launching a rocket vertically, the propulsion system
must produce enough thrust to overcome the inertia of the launch vehicle. The
thrust, in pounds, must be greater than the weight of the rocket.
• Newton’s second law states that the amount of force required to accelerate a body
depends on the mass of the body.

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HOW ROCKET ENGINES OPERATE

• Newton’s third law of motion relates to what occurs in a rocket

engine prior to launch.

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HOW ROCKET ENGINES OPERATE

• Propulsion System
• The rocket’s propulsion system includes the propellant used, the
containers for the propellant, all the plumbing that may be required
to get the propellant from the containers to the engine and the
rocket engine itself.

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HOW ROCKET ENGINES OPERATE

• Propulsion System
• Chemical systems usually involve the mixing and burning of a
chemical fuel and a chemical oxidizer.
• The gas-heating system design would use an “external” heat source
to heat the propellant and build the pressure.
• Electric systems use magnetic fields and currents to propel matter
in small amounts.

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WHAT IS PROPULSION ?
• Initiating or changing the
motion of a body
– Translational (linear, moving
faster or slower)
– Rotational (turning about an axis)
• Space propulsion
– Rocket launches
– Controlling satellite motion
– Maneuvering spacecraft
• Jet propulsion
– Using the momentum of ejected
mass (propellant) to create a
reaction force, inducing motion

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SPACE PROPULSION APPLICA
• Launch Vehicles
• Ballistic Missiles
• Earth Orbiting Satellites
• Upper Stages
• Interplanetary Spacecraft
• Manned Spaceflight

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CLASSIFICATIONS

Stored Gas Chemical Electric Advanced

• Electrothermal • Nuclear
• Electrostatic • Solar thermal
• Electrodynamic • Laser
• Antimatter

Solid Liquid Hybrid

Space propulsion
systems are classified by
Pressure Fed Pump Fed the type of energy
source used.

Bipropellant Monopropellant

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 STORED GAS PROPULSION
Propellant • Primary or auxiliary propulsion.
Gas Tank
• High pressure gas (propellant) is fed
Fill
P Pressure to low pressure nozzles through
Valve Gage pressure regulator.
High Pressure Isolation
Valve
• Release of gas through nozzles
(thrusters) generates thrust.
• Currently used for momentum
Filter

Pressure management of the Spitzer Space

Regulator telescope.
Low Pressure
Isolation • Propellants include nitrogen,
Valve helium, nitrous oxide, butane.
Thruster • Very simple in concept.

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CHEMICAL PROPULSION CLASSIFICATIONS

• Liquid Propellant
– Pump Fed
• Launch vehicles, large
upper stages
– Pressure Fed
• Smaller upper stages,
www.aerospaceweb.org spacecraft
– Monopropellant
• Fuel only
– Bipropellant
• Fuel & oxidizer
• Solid Propellant
– Launch vehicles, Space Shuttle,
spacecraft
en.wikivisual.com
– Fuel/ox in solid binder
• Hybrid
– Solid fuel/liquid ox
– Sounding rockets, X Prize

news.bbc.co.uk
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MONOPROPELLANT SYSTEMS
Nitrogen or helium • Hydrazine fuel is most
common monopropellant.
Hydrazine
– N2H4

Propellant • Decomposed in thruster

Tank using catalyst to produce
hot gas for thrust.
Pressure
•
Older systems used hydrogen
Fuel Fill Valve P
Gage peroxide before the
Isolation Valve development of hydrazine
catalysts.
Filter
•
Typically operate in blowdown
mode (pressurant and fuel
in common tank).

Thrusters
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MONOPROPELLANT SYSTEMS

www.ampacisp.com

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BIPROPELLANT SYSTEMS
• A fuel and an oxidizer are fed to the
engine through an injector and
FUEL OX combust in the thrust chamber.
•
Hypergolic: no igniter needed --
P P propellants react on contact in engine.
•
Cryogenic propellants include LOX (-
423 ºF) and LH2 (-297 ºF).
Isolation Valves
– Igniter required
•Storable propellants include
Chamber kerosene (RP-1), hydrazine,
nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4),
Engine monomethylhydrazine (MMH)

Nozzle

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LIQUID PROPELLANT
SYSTEMS
• Pump fed systems
– Propellant delivered to engine using
turbopump
• Gas turbine drives centrifugal or axial
flow pumps
H-1 Engine Turbopump
– Large, high thrust, long burn systems:
launch vehicles, space shuttle A 35’x15’x4.5’ (ave.
depth) backyard
– Different cycles developed.
pool holds about
18,000 gallons of
water. How quickly
could the F-1 pump
empty it?

F-1 engine turbopump: Ans: In

• 55,000 bhp turbine drive 27
• 15,471 gpm (RP-1)
• 24,811 gpm (LOX) seconds!
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F-1 Engine Turbopump
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 ROCKET ENGINE POWER CYCLES
• Gas Generator Cycle
– Simplest
– Most common
– Small amount of fuel and oxidizer
fed to gas generator
– Gas generator combustion
products drive turbine
– Turbine powers fuel and oxidizer
pumps
–
Turbine exhaust can be vented
through pipe/nozzle, or dumped
www.aero.org/publications/
into nozzle
crosslink/winter2004/03_side – Saturn V F-1 engine used gas
bar3.html
generator cycle

www.answers.com D E P A R T ME N T O F M E C H A N I C A L E N G I
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 SOLID PROPELLANT
•
•
•
 Fuel and oxidizer are in solid binder. Single use -- no
restart capability. •
 Lower performance than liquid systems, but much
simpler.
 Applications include launch vehicles, upper stages, and
space vehicles.

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 HYBRID ROCKET

• Combination liquid-solid
Oxidizer Tank propellant
– Solid fuel
– Liquid oxidizer
• Multi-start capability
Ox Control Valve
– Terminate flow of oxidizer
•Fuels consist of rubber or
plastic base, and are inert.
Solid – Just about anything that

•Oxidizers include LO ,
Propellant burns…
2

hydrogen peroxide (N2O2) and

Nozzle nitrous oxide (NO2)
• Shut-down/restart capability.
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 CALCULATIONS
• Thrust & Specific Impulse • Rocket Equation
–Thrust is the amount of force
generated by the rocket.
V gI ln mi
–Specific impulse is a measure or sp mf
engine performance (analogous to
miles per gallon)
• Units are seconds g  9.8 m/s 2

m  mass of vehicle before burn

i

m  mass of vehicle after burn

f

m mass of propellant for V

p

m m i f

Isp  F
w V 

F rocketthrust m m
p 
i 1  e
gI sp


 
w weightflowrate of propellant

Rocket equation assumes no losses (gravity effects, aerodynamic drag). Actually

very accurate for short burns in Earth orbit or in deep space!
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•
SOLID ROCKET
A solid rocket motor is a system that uses solid
propellants to produce thrust
• Advantages
– High thrust
– Simple
– Storability
– High density Isp
• Disadvantages
– Low Isp (compared to liquids)
– Complex throttling
– Difficult to stop and restart
– Safety D E P A R T ME N T O F M E C H A N I C A L E N G I
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SOLID ROCKET COMPONENTS

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 PROPELLANT GRAIN
• Two main catagories
– Double Base: A homogeneous
propellant grain, usually nitrocellulose
dissolved in nitroglycerin. Both
ingredients are explosive and
act as a combined fuel, oxidizer and
binder
– Composite: A heterogeneous propellant grain with
oxidizer crystals and powdered fuel held together
in a matrix of synthetic rubber binder.
• Less hazardous
D E P A R T MEto
N T manufacture
O F M E C H A N I C A L Eand
N G I handle
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 CONVENTIONAL COMPOSITE
• Fuel
– 5-22% Powdered Aluminum
• Oxidizer
– 65-70% Ammonium Perchlorate (NH4ClO4 or
AP)
• Binder
– 8-14% Hydroxyl- Terminated Polybutadiene
(HTPB)

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• Aluminum (Al)
FUELS
– Molecular Weight: 26.98 kg/kmol
– Density: 2700 kg/m3
– Most commonly used
• Magnesium (Mg)
– Molecular Weight: 24.32 kg/kmol
– Density: 1750 kg/m3
– Clean burning (green)
• Beryllium (Be)
– Molecular Weight: 9.01 kg/kmol
– Density: 2300 kg/m3
– Most energetic,
D E P A Rbut
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extremely
T ME N T O F M E C H A Ntoxic exhaust
ICAL EN GI products