Effects of Local Mixing Ratios and Mass Flow Rates on Combustion Performance of the Fuel-Rich LOX (Liquid Oxygen)/kerosene Gas Generator in the ATR (Air Turbo Rocket) Engine

Abstract

This paper presents a numerical simulation analysis of the flow and combustion characteristics of a fuel-rich LOX (liquid oxygen)/kerosene gas generator in an ATR (air turbo rocket) engine, examining the effects of local parameters on the combustion flow field and performance. The analysis considers variations in unit injector mixing ratios and unit mass flow rates. The results indicate that as the mixing ratio in the inner-ring injectors increases (while the mixing ratio in the middle-ring injectors decreases), the oxygen concentration area near the axis zone and the 50% radius zone of the gas generator expands. Conversely, the kerosene concentration area near the axis zone decreases while gradually increasing near the 50% radius zone. In the flow direction section, there is an inverse relationship between the variation trend of local temperature and the oxygen concentration in the local area. As the oxygen concentration increases, the temperature decreases. The temperature distribution across the cross-section of the gas generator exhibits a circular pattern. When the mixing ratio (or mass flow rates) of the unit injector are perfectly balanced, the temperature distribution becomes highly uniform. A larger disparity in flow rate between the inner ring injector and the middle ring injector leads to a lower combustion efficiency. This effect differs from the effect of the mixing ratio difference between the two injector rings. Increasing the mixing ratio in the inner-ring injectors (or decreasing the mixing ratio in the middle-ring injectors) initially leads to a rise in combustion efficiency, followed by a subsequent decline. The maximum combustion efficiency of 89.10% is achieved when the mixing ratio is set to Km-1 = 0.7 and Km-2 = 2.79, respectively. Increasing the flow rate in the inner-ring injectors (or decreasing the flow rate in the middle-ring injectors) initially leads to an improvement in combustion efficiency, followed by a subsequent reduction. The maximum combustion efficiency of 86.13% is achieved when the mass flow rate is set to m-1 = m-2 = 0.1 kg/s.

Keywords

• ATR engine
• fuel-rich gas generator
• bipropellant injector
• unit injector mixing ratio
• unit injector mass flow rate
• combustion efficiency