Evaluating Liquid Rocket Engine Fuel Pressures and Mass Flow Rates

This paper presents the effects of different oxidizer to fuel ratios on a liquid rocket. The aim of this paper is to find an optimized ratio that has the highest thrust and specific impulse value. In the test varying the fuel pressure will show the sensitivity of the system to changing fuel pressures through different thrust readings and analytical calculations for specific impulse. By comparing the values gathered from this project one would be capable of estimating the thrust and specific impulse values for a rig of similarity. The system consists of a liquid rocket rig mounted horizontally on a mobile test cart with a 78mm #58 nozzle using a black powder charge for ignition running on Jet-A and nitrous oxide (NOS). The fuel and oxidizer are easily available and of interest to the Air Force for combined cycle rocket engines. Research in this area can provide valuable baseline data for use on other rocket engines with similar characteristics. Additionally, data from this paper has a variety of different aerospace applications and could lead to further research and improve efficiency of liquid rocket engines.