Design and Validation of the Fluids System for a Regulated Pressure-Fed Liquid Rocket Engine Test Stand

Tartarus, the liquid rocketry project of the Space Hardware Club at UAH, has completed the design and started the fabrication of a bipropellant liquid rocket engine test stand. The test stand uses a pressure-fed, regulated pressure-fed cycle housed within a trailer for quick setup times. The system is split between three main subsystems: the ethanol fluids cabinet which stores and transports ethanol to the test article engine, the liquid oxygen cabinet which stores and transports liquid oxygen to the test article engine, and the engine thrust stand which sits outside of the fluids trailer where the engine is mounted and tested. The system also houses a gaseous nitrogen purge system to cleanse the ethanol and liquid oxygen run lines. The test stand has been designed to perform hotfire tests of the team’s "Prometheus" engine and any future test articles created by the team. To perform this task, the system is rated to a maximum allowable working pressure (MAWP) of 1000 PSI. In addition, the engine thrust stand is rated to 1000 pounds of force (IBF) with a safety factor of 3. The up-and-coming test of the "Prometheus" engine operates the run lines for the ethanol and liquid oxygen at a pressure of 400 PSI with a pressure-fed pressure of 700 PSI with the engine producing an estimated thrust of 280 IBF. The system design and specifications will be verified with a water flow test as well as a cryogenic cold flow test with liquid nitrogen for the liquid oxygen run line. Further details on subcomponent design and pressure calculations will be covered in the paper.