Designing and Testing of HDPE–N<sub>2</sub>O Hybrid Rocket Engine

Hybrid Rocket Engines (HREs) combine the advantages of solid and liquid propellants, offering thrust control, simplicity, safety, and cost efficiency. Part of the research on this rocket architecture focuses on optimising combustion chamber design to enhance performance, a process traditionally reli...

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Main Authors: Triyan Pal Arora, Noah Buttrey, Peter Kirman, Sanmukh Khadtare, Eeshaan Kamath, Dario del Gatto, Adriano Isoldi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-03-01
Series:Engineering Proceedings
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4591/90/1/34
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author Triyan Pal Arora
Noah Buttrey
Peter Kirman
Sanmukh Khadtare
Eeshaan Kamath
Dario del Gatto
Adriano Isoldi
author_facet Triyan Pal Arora
Noah Buttrey
Peter Kirman
Sanmukh Khadtare
Eeshaan Kamath
Dario del Gatto
Adriano Isoldi
author_sort Triyan Pal Arora
collection DOAJ
description Hybrid Rocket Engines (HREs) combine the advantages of solid and liquid propellants, offering thrust control, simplicity, safety, and cost efficiency. Part of the research on this rocket architecture focuses on optimising combustion chamber design to enhance performance, a process traditionally reliant on time-consuming experimental adjustments to chamber lengths. In this study, two configurations of HREs were designed and tested. The tests aimed to study the impact of post-chamber lengths on rocket engine performance by experimental firings on a laid-back test engine. This study focused on designing, manufacturing, and testing a laid-back hybrid engine with two chamber configurations. The engine features a small combustion chamber, an L-shaped mount, a spark ignition, and nitrogen purging. Data acquisition includes thermocouples, pressure transducers, and a load cell for thrust measurement. Our experimental findings provide insights into thrust, temperature gradients, pressure, and plume characteristics. A non-linear regression model derived from the experimental data established an empirical relationship between performance and chamber lengths, offering a foundation for further combustion flow studies. The post-chamber length positively impacted the engine thrust performance by 2.7%. Conversely, the pre-chamber length negatively impacted the performance by 1.3%. Further data collection could assist in refining the empirical relation and identifying key threshold values.
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spelling doaj-art-2564319bb6d448f18a11d270480fecb32025-08-20T02:24:43ZengMDPI AGEngineering Proceedings2673-45912025-03-019013410.3390/engproc2025090034Designing and Testing of HDPE–N<sub>2</sub>O Hybrid Rocket EngineTriyan Pal Arora0Noah Buttrey1Peter Kirman2Sanmukh Khadtare3Eeshaan Kamath4Dario del Gatto5Adriano Isoldi6School of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing, Cranfield University, Bedford MK43 0AL, UKSchool of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing, Cranfield University, Bedford MK43 0AL, UKSchool of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing, Cranfield University, Bedford MK43 0AL, UKSchool of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing, Cranfield University, Bedford MK43 0AL, UKSchool of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing, Cranfield University, Bedford MK43 0AL, UKSchool of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing, Cranfield University, Bedford MK43 0AL, UKSchool of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing, Cranfield University, Bedford MK43 0AL, UKHybrid Rocket Engines (HREs) combine the advantages of solid and liquid propellants, offering thrust control, simplicity, safety, and cost efficiency. Part of the research on this rocket architecture focuses on optimising combustion chamber design to enhance performance, a process traditionally reliant on time-consuming experimental adjustments to chamber lengths. In this study, two configurations of HREs were designed and tested. The tests aimed to study the impact of post-chamber lengths on rocket engine performance by experimental firings on a laid-back test engine. This study focused on designing, manufacturing, and testing a laid-back hybrid engine with two chamber configurations. The engine features a small combustion chamber, an L-shaped mount, a spark ignition, and nitrogen purging. Data acquisition includes thermocouples, pressure transducers, and a load cell for thrust measurement. Our experimental findings provide insights into thrust, temperature gradients, pressure, and plume characteristics. A non-linear regression model derived from the experimental data established an empirical relationship between performance and chamber lengths, offering a foundation for further combustion flow studies. The post-chamber length positively impacted the engine thrust performance by 2.7%. Conversely, the pre-chamber length negatively impacted the performance by 1.3%. Further data collection could assist in refining the empirical relation and identifying key threshold values.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4591/90/1/34hybrid rocketstatic firingperformancechamber lengthtestengine
spellingShingle Triyan Pal Arora
Noah Buttrey
Peter Kirman
Sanmukh Khadtare
Eeshaan Kamath
Dario del Gatto
Adriano Isoldi
Designing and Testing of HDPE–N<sub>2</sub>O Hybrid Rocket Engine
Engineering Proceedings
hybrid rocket
static firing
performance
chamber length
test
engine
title Designing and Testing of HDPE–N<sub>2</sub>O Hybrid Rocket Engine
title_full Designing and Testing of HDPE–N<sub>2</sub>O Hybrid Rocket Engine
title_fullStr Designing and Testing of HDPE–N<sub>2</sub>O Hybrid Rocket Engine
title_full_unstemmed Designing and Testing of HDPE–N<sub>2</sub>O Hybrid Rocket Engine
title_short Designing and Testing of HDPE–N<sub>2</sub>O Hybrid Rocket Engine
title_sort designing and testing of hdpe n sub 2 sub o hybrid rocket engine
topic hybrid rocket
static firing
performance
chamber length
test
engine
url https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4591/90/1/34
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