Hybrid rockets offer various advantages, such as safety, controllability, and eco-friendliness, compared to solid and liquid rocket propulsion. Despite these, it has drawbacks such as low regression rate, lower combustion efficiency, and change in oxidizer-to-fuel ratio with burn time. Various methods have been adopted to overcome these issues. The present study analyzes the impact of adding a secondary swirl injector, along with the conventional head-end swirl injector, on the performance of a hybrid rocket motor. Paraffin wax was used as fuel and gaseous oxygen as the oxidizer. The secondary injector was positioned at three locations: 0.25, 0.50, and 0.75 secondary swirl location/entire motor length (X/L). Results showed that the secondary swirl injector prevented the swirling flow from decaying within the combustion chamber. For the head-end swirl injection, the tangential component of the swirl decays progressively after 200 mm along the flow direction. The optimal position for the secondary injector was found at 0.50 X/L, where the regression rate increased by 33.75%, combustion efficiency improved by 13.4%, and thrust and pressure increased by 53% and 30%, respectively, compared to the head-end swirl case. It was also observed that longer chambers led to incomplete combustion due to swirl decay, while shorter chambers gave a reduction in residence time, limiting the combustion efficiency.
Effect of Varying Secondary Swirl Injector Location on Performance of Hybrid Rocket
01.07.2025
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
Spray Characteristics of Swirl Effervescent Injector in Rocket Application: A Review
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2012
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