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Condensation of water vapor and carbon dioxide in the jet exhausts of rocket engines: 1. Heterogeneous condensation of combustion products

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Abstract

Condensation of water vapor and carbon dioxide in the jet exhausts of rocket engines during last stages of Proton, Molniya, and Start launchers operating in the upper atmospheric with different types of fuels is considered. Particle heating is taken into account with emission of latent heat of condensation and energy loss due to radiation and heat exchange with combustion products. Using the solution of the heat balance and condensed particle mass equations, the temporal change in the temperature and thickness of the condensate layer is obtained. Practically, no condensation of water vapor and carbon dioxide in the jet exhaust of a Start launcher occurs. In plumes of Proton and Molniya launchers, the condensation of water vapor and carbon dioxide can start at distances of 120–170 m and 450–650 m from the engine nozzle, respectively. In the course of condensation, the thickness of the “water” layer on particles can exceed 100 Å, and the thickness of carbon dioxide can exceed 60 Å.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pushkov Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere, and Radiowave Propagation, Russian Academy of Sciences, Kaluzhskoe shosse 4, Troitsk, Moscow oblast, 142190, Russia

    Yu. V. Platov & B. V. Filippov

  2. Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pyzhevskii per. 3, Moscow, 119017, Russia

    A. I. Semenov

Authors
  1. Yu. V. Platov
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  2. A. I. Semenov
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  3. B. V. Filippov
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Correspondence to Yu. V. Platov.

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Original Russian Text © Yu. V. Platov, A. I. Semenov, B. V. Filippov, 2014, published in Geomagnetizm i Aeronomiya, 2014, Vol. 54, No. 1, pp. 111–115.

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Platov, Y.V., Semenov, A.I. & Filippov, B.V. Condensation of water vapor and carbon dioxide in the jet exhausts of rocket engines: 1. Heterogeneous condensation of combustion products. Geomagn. Aeron. 54, 104–108 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0016793214010125

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0016793214010125

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