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Some Basic Studies of Liquid Propellant Injection Processes*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

J. D. Lewis*
Affiliation:
Rocket Propulsion Establishment, Westcott

Summary

The recent analytical studies of rocket engine combustion based on propellant vaporisation as the rate controlling parameter, especially those by Spalding, and Priem and Heidmann, have contributed greatly to our appreciation of the mechanism of stable combustion. Critical combustion experiments on a small scale engine have shown fair agreement with vaporisation predictions, but have also revealed the need to understand and improve the mixing process.

In parallel with performance measurements in a combustion system, detailed measurements of the atomisation process including the break-up mechanism and drop-size distribution have been made. However, there are many gaps in our knowledge of the subject and further work remains to be done.

It is thought that the high-speed photographic and gas sampling techniques developed for these investigations provide useful research tools for more detailed studies of the problems.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 1964

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References

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