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Study of internal flow of a bipropellant swirl injector of a rocket engine

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Abstract

This work presents the study of the behavior of the internal flow in a swirl bipropellant injector, which is composed of an open-end (without nozzle) and a closed injector (with nozzle). In this way, each of these injectors has a characteristic behavior with respect to velocity distribution, pressure, and other main parameters. In this study, three methods are used, which are: experimental, numerical, and analytical. For the numerical simulation was used a three-dimensional structured mesh, capable of holding three important areas: the oxidizer swirl chamber (closed swirl injector), the fuel swirl chamber (open-end swirl injector), and the area designed for the spray zone, which will include the phenomena caused by the interaction of the flow of the oxidant and the fuel within the bipropellant injector. The simulation was carried out through the commercial code CFD fluent in permanent regime, using the RNG k-epsilon turbulent model and the volume of fluid multiphase model to locate the liquid–gas interface. In addition, experimental data and a mathematical model developed based on theories of Abramovich and Kliachko are also presented .

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Abbreviations

A :

Geometrical characteristics parameter of the tangential swirl injector

A c :

Geometrical characteristics parameter of the conical swirl injector

A E :

Equivalent geometrical characteristics parameter of the swirl injectors

C d :

Discharge coefficient

D h :

Hydraulic diameter

f :

Volumetric forces

f p :

Cross-sectional area of inlet port

K :

Coefficient of loss due to liquid viscosity

L mix :

Distance between nozzle injectors

n :

Number of inlet ports

N :

Total number of phases

\({\dot{m}}\) :

Mass flow rate

P :

Pressure

ΔP :

Differential pressure

R s :

Swirl chamber radius

R inj :

Radius to axis inlet channel

r a :

Air core radius

r o :

Outlet orifice radius

t :

Film thickness, ro–ra

u :

Vectorial velocity

U in :

Inlet entrance velocity

U, W :

Velocities

α :

Half-spray angle

β :

Swirl angle

ξ :

Losses coefficient

φ :

Film flow area coefficient

γ :

Tilt angle

λ :

Resistance coefficient of Blasius

μ :

Liquid absolute viscosity

\(\nabla\) :

Gradient operator

ψ :

Helix angle

ρ :

Liquid density

σ :

Liquid surface tension

ν :

Liquid kinematic viscosity

χ :

Volume fraction of fluid

a:

Air core

eq:

Equivalent parameter due to viscosity

inj:

Parameters of inlet ports

p:

Inlet ports

r:

Radial component

s:

Swirl chamber

tot:

Total

θ :

Tangential component

z :

Axial component

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the following institutions which have contributed to the development of this work: Technological Institute of Aeronautics, ITA, and its Propulsion and Power Laboratory, as well as the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, CAPES, for the financial support through all these years of study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ingeniería Mecatrónica, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC), Campus Monterrico, Prolongación Av. Primavera 2390, Surco, Lima, Peru

    Julio R. Ronceros Rivas

  2. Divisão de Engenharia Aeronáutica, Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA), Comando Geral de Tecnologia Aeroespacial - Praça Marechal Eduardo Gomes 50, Vila Das Acacias, São José Dos Campos, São Paulo, CEP 12228-900, Brazil

    Amílcar Porto Pimenta & Saulo Gómez Salcedo

  3. Curso: Engenharia de Energia, Universidade Federal de Integração Latino-americana (UNILA), Av. Tancredo Neves 3838 – Porto Belo, Foz do Iguaçu, PR, CEP 85867-970, Brazil

    Gustavo Adolfo Ronceros Rivas

  4. Departamento de Ciencias, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC), Campus Monterrico, Prolongación Av. Primavera 2390, Surco, Lima, Peru

    Marie C. Girón Suazo

Authors
  1. Julio R. Ronceros Rivas
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  2. Amílcar Porto Pimenta
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  3. Saulo Gómez Salcedo
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  4. Gustavo Adolfo Ronceros Rivas
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  5. Marie C. Girón Suazo
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Correspondence to Julio R. Ronceros Rivas.

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Technical Editor: Jader Barbosa Jr.

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Rivas, J.R.R., Pimenta, A.P., Salcedo, S.G. et al. Study of internal flow of a bipropellant swirl injector of a rocket engine. J Braz. Soc. Mech. Sci. Eng. 40, 289 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-018-1205-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-018-1205-6

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