Cryogenic propulsion for the Titan Orbiter Polar Surveyor (TOPS) mission

Mustafi, Shuvo; DeLee, C.; Francis, John J.; Li, X.; McGuinness, Daniel S.; Nixon, C. A.; Purves, Lloyd; Willis, W.D. H.O.; Riall, Sara; Devine, Matt; Hedayat, A.

doi:10.1016/j.cryogenics.2015.11.009

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 12 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The study on cryogenic propulsion technology for liquid rocket engines is being carried out by countries and institutional agencies worldwide, such as the Titan Orbiter Polar Surveyor (TOPS) from NASA, 1 the new-generation cryogenic propulsion plan of the French Space Agency, 2 the liquid oxygen (LO 2 )/liquid hydrogen (LH 2 ) turbopumps in Japan, 3 and the research-development of the Long March 5 series with LH 2 and LO 2 as fuel in China. 4 However, the harsh working conditions in the liquid rocket engine turbopumps, such as high speed, low viscosity, cryogenic temperature, high pressure, and space-mass limitations, call for improvements of the performances of crucial parts (such as seals, bearings, axial balance disks) in the turbopumps.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An experimental study on the cryogenic face seal at different inlet pressures

Zhang

Zhao

et al. 2019

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part J:

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

An experimental test system for cryogenic high-speed hydrodynamic non-contact mechanical seals is developed. Based on this system, the performances of seals under different working conditions are studied in detail in this paper. With the experimental results, the main performances of the seals (such as inlet and outlet temperatures, separated speed, face temperature, friction force, friction coefficient, leakage rate) are obtained, and the relationships of the performances with the inlet fluid pressure, the closing force and the rotational speed are discussed. The results show that the difference between the outlet and inlet temperatures decreases with increasing inlet fluid pressure. As the speed increases, the friction force varies little and remains at a constant value. The friction coefficient of the seal is approximately 0.12 and basically does not change with the speed. The leakage rate is also maintained at approximately 190 g/s. With the increase in the closing force, the friction at the seal’s face does not change greatly, which indicates that the friction at the face is always in a stable state with the seal’s closing force.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An experimental study on the cryogenic face seal at different inlet pressures

Zhang

Zhao

et al. 2019

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part J:

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Apart from propulsion point of view, he also described that, long-term cryogenic storage will also be possible with these cryo-fluids, due to its advancements in active and passive temperature management, thus making these propellants nearly as ''storable" in space as hypergols. The propellant combination analysis performed in NASA's Titan Orbiter Polar Surveyor (TOPS) mission 21,22) set forth that a LOX/LH2 propelled missions saves 43% launched mass compared to Methyl hydrazine (MMH) and Nitrogen Tetroxide (NTO) hypergolic based missions (used in LPRE's before cryo-propellants) due to their notable specific Impulse. Here, a twin circuit was used to regeneratively cool the chamber in which the throat would be cooled with LH2, while the nozzle would be cooled with LOx, so as to improve chamber life and thereby to increase the engine thrust.…”

Section: 1lox -Lh2 Propellant Combinationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An efficient TVS can control the pressure in the propellant tank and at the same time reduce the thermal stratification and eliminate environmental heat leakage. By enabling indirect venting of vapor through heat transfer between the discharged fluid and the fluid stored in the tanks 21) , this phenomenon of implementing TVS can be achieved. For example, the article 77) deals with the analytical modeling and the developments of ZBO systems to minimize the effects of zero gravity on fluid and thermodynamic activity by utilizing this TVS-Cryocooler techniques.…”

Section: 2substitutivecooling Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review on Advancements and Characteristics of Cryogenic Propulsion Rocket Engine

R¹,

Jeyan²

2023

Evergreen

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Future space exploration missions will require the synergistic integration of potentially lightweight, high thrust producing, and environmentally sustainable rocket engines. This article guides through one such capable rocket engine, the cryogenic propulsion rocket engine and some cutting-edge characteristics and novel engineering advancements affiliated with it. A typical cryogenic-propulsion rocket engine works similarly to all other LPRE's (Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines), in which the primary fluid (Cryogenic fuel 1) reacts chemically to get vaporized and get ignited by an oxidizer to provide extremely hot rocket thrust that escapes the engine nozzle and generates thrust from the combustion process. Considerable efforts have been made to optimize the engine's performance and reliability in order to utilize the most desirable output from it. Therefore, a brief overview of the different models and research approaches associated with it to provide predictions and results about the stability, dynamics, and cooling characteristics of the given engine configuration is presented.

show abstract

“…Depending on the mission, these components would have to be strategically implemented to minimize the heat leak into the cryogen while simultaneously allowing passive heat extraction from the cryogen tank by radiating heat to deep space. Figure 2(a) shows a view of the CHOPS PCSS and the CHOPS engine that is used for a representative planetary science spacecraft [1]. The structural supports on the spacecraft are provided using low thermal conductivity composite T300/RS-3C struts, sized to balance both structural, launch and thermal requirements.…”

Section: New Technology 2: Chops Passive Cryogen Storage System (Pcss)mentioning

confidence: 99%