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AssigneeHy Pat Corporation
InventorsKorey R. Kline, Kevin W. Smith, Thomas O. Bales
Estimating the term…
A hybrid rocket motor includes a storage tank which stores an oxidizer under relatively low pressure, a turbopump preferably directly coupled to an outlet of the storage tank which pressurizes the oxidizer to a relatively high pressure, a combustion chamber including a solid fuel, and an injector between the turbopump and combustion chamber through which the oxidizer is injected into the combustion chamber. According to a preferred aspect of the invention, the turbopump is operated by an expander cycle of a heat exchanger. According to another preferred aspect of the invention, the fluid flowing through the heat exchanger is oxidizer tapped from the storage tank. A barrier is maintained between an oxidizer feed line from the turbopump and the injector until sufficient pressure is created by the turbopump to pump the oxidizer at the requisite pressure into the injector.
A hybrid rocket motor, comprising:
A hybrid rocket motor, comprising:
A projectile, comprising:
A projectile, comprising:
In a hybrid rocket motor having a container storing a fluid oxidizer and having a first outlet, a combustion chamber containing a solid fuel grain therein, a turbopump including a turbine side and a pump side, said pump side adapted to increase a pressure of the fluid oxidizer exiting said first outlet and injected into said combustion chamber, the improvement comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Control: of propellant feed pumps
Feeding propellants: using pumps
Using pumps: driven by a gas turbine fed by propellant combustion gases or fed by vaporized propellants or other gases
Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof: using liquid and solid propellants, i.e. hybrid…
Term ended 22 Jan 2022 (estimated)
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates broadly to self-propelled projectiles. More particularly, this invention relates to rockets powered by hybrid propellant systems.
2. State of the Art
FIG. 1 is a broken longitudinal section view of a rocket provided with a hybrid booster according to the invention;
FIG. 2 is a broken schematic of the hybrid motor according to a first embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2a is an enlarged broken schematic section of the hybrid motor of the first embodiment of the invention;
Turning now to FIGS. 1 and 2, a rocket 10 includes a hybrid motor 12 surrounded by a tubular casing 13, a nose cone 14 at a front end of the casing, and an exhaust nozzle 16 at an aft end of the casing. The hybrid motor 12 includes a storage tank 20 holding a fluid oxidizer, preferably liquid oxygen 22, and having an outlet 24, and a pump 28 which operates to pump the liquid oxygen 22 from the storage tank 20 through a main line 30 to an injector 32.
A pressurant such as helium or nitrogen 23 is provided in the tank 20 to increase the tank pressure, e.g., to 100 psi, but does not create the typical high pressure (e.g., 1000 psi) typically created in storage tanks used in hybrid motors. As such, relatively low structural requirements for the tank 20 are necessitated. The motor 12 also includes a combustion chamber 27 provided with a thick-walled tubular cylinder solid fuel grain body 26. The solid fuel grain body 26 is preferably AP/HTPB (ammonium perchlorate/hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene). The injector 32 preferably extends into the head end 48 of the combustion chamber 27 and injects the oxidizer 22 toward the solid fuel grain body 26.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 2a, the pump 28 includes a preferably radial impeller 34 adjacent the outlet 24 which pressurizes the oxidizer from the storage tank 20 through volute 36 and into the main line 30. The centrifugal impeller 34 is provided at one end of a shaft 35, and a preferably axial turbine 38 is provided at the other end of the shaft. As such, according to a preferred aspect of the invention, the pump 28 is preferably a turbopump. The axle 35, impeller 34 and turbine 38 are rotodynamically supported on preferably ceramic/metal bearings 37, 39 axially aligned with the outlet 24. A shaft seal 41 is also preferably provided between bearing 39 and the turbine 38. The centrifugal impeller 34 and the turbine 38 are both axially aligned with the outlet 24 of the tank 20, and the outlet 24 of the tank 20 is preferably directly coupled to the pump 28; i.e., without intervening flexible tubes or other tortuous paths therebetween thereby eliminating the complex array of plumbing commonly used in rocket motors provided with a turbopump. Such an arrangement minimizes the pressure drop of fluid flowing from the tank to the pump, which simplifies the design of the pump and improves pump performance.