Proposals for improving the efficiency and service life of the turbines of turbo-pump assemblies in liquid-propellant rocket engines by using double-sided crest-type radial labyrinth seals

Abstract

Nowadays the improvement of the design of liquid-propellant rocket engines (LPREs) depends on a variety of factors and activities, among which we can distinguish, for example, the improvement of energy characteristics of units and assemblies forming part of the LPREs. The article compares the operation of LPRE turbo-pump turbines using double-sided and single-sided labyrinth seals used in Energomash's engines. The key geometrical parameters of each seal variant, images of 3D-models of seals constructed for the calculations, the resulting computational grid for each seal variant, as well as graphs of the pressure distribution and velocity fields are presented for visual comparison. Sectoral leakage was calculated for each variant of the seal, the possibility of reducing the temperature of the turbine inlet working gas was assessed. In the future attention should be paid to a more detailed study of this type of seals with the use of modern computing power

Keywords

• liquid-propellant rocket engine
• turbo-pump assembly
• gap
• seal
• turbine
• leak
• efficiency
• service life