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Acta Aeronautica et Astronautica Sinica ›› 2023, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (15): 528750.doi: 10.7527/S1000-6893.2023.28750

• Fluid Mechanics and Vehicle Conceptual Design • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Safety experimental demonstration of propellant parallel loading for LOX/kerosene rocket

Zheng YAN1(), Bing BO2, Tianpei LUO3, Liangping ZHU1, Xiangwei CHANG1   

  1. 1.Xichang Satellite Launch Center,Xichang  615000,China
    2.State Key Laboratory of Fire Science,University of Science and Technology of China,Hefei  230026,China
    3.Beijing Institute of Aerospace Testing Technology,Beijing  100074,China
  • Received:2023-03-28 Revised:2023-04-11 Accepted:2023-05-04 Online:2023-08-15 Published:2023-05-18
  • Contact: Zheng YAN E-mail:yznudt@qq.com
  • Supported by:
    Provincial and Ministerial Level Project

Abstract:

Liquid Oxygen (LOX)/kerosene is currently the mainstream liquid rocket propellant combination because of its high thrust, high density specific impulse, and low cost. However, the propellant serial loading procedure is still widely used at present, with the shortcomings such as tediously long countdown timeline, and significant temperature rise of kerosene after loading. For engineering application of LOX/kerosene parallel loading, safety experimental demonstration was conducted iteratively through oxygen/kerosene sealing experiments, LOX/kerosene leakage experiments, and safety boundary experiments. The results show that the safety indicators of LOX/kerosene parallel loading are that the kerosene vapor concentration is less than 1.80%, which can be achieved by controlling the kerosene temperature to be less than 62.2 ℃ or the vapor temperature to be less than 41.8 ℃. Under the typical condition of leakage at the launch complex, even under extreme environmental conditions such as 40 ℃ temperature and airtightness, the maximum concentration of kerosene vapor is only 0.53%, hence LOX/kerosene parallel loading is still absolutely safe. The research results have been applied in the launch service of a medium LOX/kerosene launch vehicle since 2022, decreasing the propellant loading procedure by 64% and the countdown procedure by 33%.

Key words: LOX/kerosene rocket, propellant loading, experimental demonstration, safety indicator, countdown procedure

CLC Number: