Boiler and pressure balls monopropellant thermal rocket engine
The proposed technology is a rocket engine cycle utilizing as the propulsive fluid a low molecular weight, cryogenic fluid, typically liquid hydrogen, pressure driven, heated, and expelled through a nozzle to generate high velocity and high specific impulse discharge gas. The proposed technology feeds the propellant through the engine cycle without the use of a separate pressurization fluid and without the use of turbomachinery. Advantages of the proposed technology are found in those elements of state-of-the-art systems that it avoids. It does not require a separate pressurization fluid or a thick-walled primary propellant tank as is typically required for a classical pressure-fed system. Further, it does not require the acceptance of intrinsic reliability risks associated with the use of turbomachinery.
Inventors:
William D. Greene
Patent Number:
US7540143Patent Issue Date:
July 2, 2009Lab Representatives