Liquid monopropellants and liqued-fuel rocket engines

Abstract

Theoretical and experimental results of an investigation on the combustion or decomposition of monopropellant droplets in an ine rt atmosphere, and on the combustion of bipropellant systems consisting of fuel (oxidizer) droplets in the vapor of an oxidizer (fuel) are given in the present work. Combustion of droplets has been mainly investigated for the case of fuel drops burning in air. Theoretical studies 1 , 2,4,7,9,30,11 n a v e b e e n carried out by assuming t h at the reaction r a te is infinitely rapid. Such an assumption implies t h at chemical reaction occurs at a zero-thickness layer, where the mass fractions of b o th fuel and ozidizer become equal to zero. On the basis of this assumption, which disregards chemical kinetics, it was found t h at the burning r a te is proportional to the droplet radius, and, the r efore, t h at t he square of the droplet radius is a linear function of time. I t was also found t h at the flame: droplet radius ratio does not depend upon the droplet radius.