Validation of a simplified model for liquid propellant rocket engine combustion chamber design

Abstract

The combustion phenomena inside the thrust chamber of the liquid propellant rocket engine are very complicated because of different paths for elementary processes. In this paper, the characteristic length (L*) approach for the combustion chamber design will be discussed compared to the effective length (Leff) approach. First, both methods are introduced then applied for real LPRE. The effective length methodology is introduced starting from the basic model until developing the empirical equations that may be used in the design process. The classical procedure of L* was found to over-estimate the required cylindrical length in addition to the inherent shortcoming of not giving insight where to move to enhance the design. The effective length procedure was found to be accurate within ± 10%.