Increasing the specific impulse of liquid oxygen + kerosene rocket engines by introducing hydrogen into the combustion chamber
Authors: Orlin S.A., Orlov A.V.
Published in issue: #11(95)/2019
DOI: 10.18698/2308-6033-2019-11-1935
Category: Aviation and Rocket-Space Engineering | Chapter: Thermal, Electric Jet Engines, and Power Plants of Aircrafts
The investigation carried out at the Bauman Moscow State Technical University is aimed at establishing whether it may be possible to increase the specific impulse of liquid oxygen + kerosene rocket engines. It involved analytical studies of increasing specific impulse by introducing hydrogen into the oxygen/kerosene propellant. We confirm that, in the case of the oxygen/kerosene propellant used in the first stage engines, introducing hydrogen into the combustion chamber may increase its specific impulse. The results of our thermodynamic analysis show that the specific impulse increase is a function of the mass of hydrogen introduced. This enables the same engine type to be used for the first and second stages of a launch vehicle, which makes the whole system considerably less expensive and more reliable.
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