A modular design electrothermal vaporization booster for liquid rocket engines

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of engine technology, and specifically to a modularly designed electric vaporization and boosting device for liquid rocket engines, comprising: a liquid collecting bottle, a gas collecting pipeline, a liquid collecting pipeline and a heating unit; wherein the inlet of the liquid collecting bottle is connected to a liquid nitrogen pipeline, and an inlet check valve is provided on the liquid collecting bottle; one end of the gas collecting pipeline is connected to the liquid nitrogen pipeline, and the other end of the gas collecting pipeline is connected to a high-pressure container through an outlet check valve, and an exhaust valve is also provided on the gas collecting pipeline; one end of the liquid collecting pipeline is connected to the outlet of the liquid collecting bottle, and the other end of the liquid pipeline is connected to the gas collecting pipeline, and a heating unit is provided on the liquid collecting pipeline for heating the liquid nitrogen in the liquid collecting pipeline. The electric vaporization and boosting device of the present invention does not require a high-pressure liquid nitrogen container or a high-power volumetric pump, thereby simplifying the complexity of liquid rocket engine products and test systems.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of engines, and in particular to a modularly designed electric thermal vaporization and supercharging device for a liquid rocket engine. Background Art

[0002] Liquid rocket engine systems are mainly divided into pump-type and extrusion-type, both of which are inseparable from various high-pressure gas working fluids. For example, the working processes of liquid rocket propellant tank pressurization, valve control, turbo pump sealing, and power on / off blowdown all require high-pressure gases such as nitrogen and hydrogen to ensure the normal operation of related components.

[0003] In the starting ignition system, the liquid rocket engine started by the gas cylinder, such as the RD-8 of a certain country, uses the gas stored in the high-pressure container to blow the starting turbine, drive the coaxial liquid oxygen pump and kerosene pump, and force the engine to start. When the engine thrust is large and needs to be started multiple times, the gas cylinder structure has a large mass. In the purge system, high-pressure nitrogen or helium is required to purge the fuel path and the inner wall of the engine. In the boosting system, there are four boosting schemes for the liquid oxygen tank: nitrogen boosting, helium boosting, liquid oxygen evaporator boosting, and oxygen-rich gas boosting. The RD-107 engine of a certain country uses a nitrogen heating boosting scheme to boost the liquid oxygen storage tank. The liquid oxygen tank of the F-1 engine of a certain country's Nasa rocket uses the gas oxygen itself after liquid oxygen vaporization and heating to boost the pressure. The nitrogen boosting scheme (RS-27 engine) can be used for kerosene tank boosting. But whether it is a liquid oxygen tank or a kerosene tank, the heating medium of the high-pressure gas is oxygen-rich gas. In the regulation system, valve control components such as the liquid oxygen main valve and kerosene valve are widely driven and regulated by high-pressure nitrogen or helium. When the turbopump of a liquid rocket engine is working, the high-pressure propellant at the outlet of the centrifugal pump is decompressed layer by layer through the sealing components, and a small amount of fluid will still leak. Generally, high-pressure nitrogen or helium is used to blow out the leakage flow channel to prevent liquid oxygen from contacting and burning with kerosene and damaging the turbopump structure.

[0004] The existing pressurization methods are mainly: extrusion system and pump pressure system. The extrusion system uses an inert gas carrying method to directly supply the high-pressure gas required to maintain the operation of the thrust chamber into the tank. This requires an additional high-pressure liquid nitrogen storage and supply unit, which makes the structure itself heavier and the pressurized gas itself does not participate in the reaction, thereby reducing the overall efficiency of the system; in particular, the pump pressure system using a low-temperature source can send the low-temperature propellant after the pump into the heat exchanger for heating and vaporization to obtain the tank pressurization working fluid, forming a closed-loop self-pressurization system. Due to the pressure boosting function of the volume pump, the system can maintain pressure balance and continue to operate; that is, the pump pressure system has high-speed rotating components, the system is complex, and therefore occupies a relatively large space.

[0005] Therefore, it is necessary to provide a modularly designed electric thermal vaporization and pressurization device for liquid rocket engines to solve the above problems. Summary of the invention

[0006] The present invention provides a modularly designed electric vaporization and boosting device for liquid rocket engines. The boosting device of the present invention is used to quickly heat and vaporize low-temperature liquid to generate high-pressure gas. The device is suitable for forming a ground test system for liquid rocket engines and for providing a stable high-pressure gas source when the rocket is launched. The device solves the problem that the existing pump pressure system has high-speed rotating components, the system is complex, and therefore occupies a relatively large space.

[0007] The modular design electric thermal vaporization supercharging device for a liquid rocket engine of the present invention adopts the following technical solution: comprising:

[0008] A liquid collecting bottle, the inlet of which is connected to the liquid nitrogen pipeline and is provided with an inlet check valve;

[0009] A gas collecting pipeline, one end of which is connected to the liquid nitrogen pipeline between the inlet one-way valve and the liquid collecting bottle, and the other end of which is connected to the high-pressure container through the outlet one-way valve, and an exhaust valve is also provided on the gas collecting pipeline;

[0010] A liquid collecting pipeline, one end of which is connected to the outlet of the liquid collecting bottle, and the other end of which is connected to the gas collecting pipeline;

[0011] And a heating unit is arranged on the liquid collecting pipeline and is used for heating the liquid nitrogen in the liquid collecting pipeline.

[0012] Preferably, the heating unit comprises:

[0013] A heating housing having a plurality of heating chambers disposed therein;

[0014] The electric heating rod is arranged in the heating chamber, and the outer circumference of the electric heating rod is coated with a heat-conducting medium layer;

[0015] and a solenoid coil, which is wound around the outer periphery of the heat-conducting medium layer of the electric heating rod;

[0016] Wherein, the liquid collecting pipeline is arranged in the solenoid.

[0017] Preferably, the liquid collecting pipeline includes a main pipeline, the main pipeline is connected to a plurality of branch pipelines, the number of the branch pipelines is the same as the number of the heating chambers, and each branch pipeline is arranged around the outer periphery of the heat-conducting medium layer of the electric heating rod of the corresponding heating chamber.

[0018] Preferably, the heating unit includes a plurality of heating units, and each heating unit is arranged in series or in parallel, wherein, when arranged in series, an exhaust valve is provided on the gas collecting pipeline between every two adjacent heating units, the outlet of the heating unit is connected to the inlet of the solenoid of the next heating unit through an outlet one-way valve, and the gas collecting pipeline outlet of the last heating unit is connected to the high-pressure container through an outlet one-way valve; when arranged in parallel, the solenoid outlets on all heating units are connected to the gas collecting pipeline.

[0019] Preferably, the material of the heat conductive medium layer is tin metal.

[0020] Preferably, among the multiple heating chambers, one heating chamber is arranged at the center of the heating shell, and the remaining heating chambers are evenly distributed inside the heating shell around the central heating chamber; or the multiple heating chambers are divided into two layers and arranged inside the heating shell, or the multiple heating chambers are arranged in one layer and arranged inside the heating shell.

[0021] Preferably, the liquid collecting bottle, the gas collecting pipeline, the liquid collecting pipeline, the solenoid and the heating shell are all integrally formed.

[0022] Preferably, the high-pressure container is a high-pressure gas cylinder.

[0023] The beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0024] 1. Compared with the gas heat exchange booster in the prior art, the booster device of the present invention can quickly heat and vaporize the low-temperature liquid to generate high-pressure gas, and the booster device does not require a high-pressure liquid nitrogen container or a high-power positive displacement pump. At the same time, the exhaust valve, the inlet check valve, and the outlet check valve are combined to realize the low-pressure liquid nitrogen filling process, thereby simplifying the complexity of the liquid rocket engine product and the test system, making the overall size of the device small and the weight light; it is suitable for both forming a liquid rocket engine ground test system and providing a stable high-pressure gas source when the rocket is launched.

[0025] 2. The heating units of the electric vaporization boosting device of the present invention can be freely connected in parallel and series to achieve different boosting intensity requirements and graded boosting, thereby meeting the design indicators of diversified boosting gas sources, and are particularly suitable for vaporization boosting of various liquid working fluids to meet the boosting operations of different tanks of liquid rocket engine systems; secondly, the present invention uses metal tin as a heat-conducting working fluid. When the boosting device is turned off, the metal tin is cooled to a solid. During the operation of the boosting device, the metal tin melts to form a molten tin liquid, thereby increasing the heat exchange efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0027] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of Example 1 of a modularly designed electrothermal vaporization and supercharging device for a liquid rocket engine of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of Embodiment 2 of a modularly designed electrothermal vaporization and supercharging device for a liquid rocket engine of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 3 It is a structural schematic diagram of Embodiment 3 of a modularly designed electrothermal vaporization and supercharging device for a liquid rocket engine of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 4 It is a schematic structural diagram of a fourth embodiment of a modularly designed electrothermal vaporization and supercharging device for a liquid rocket engine of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 5 The present invention is a schematic diagram of the arrangement of multiple heating chambers in a modularly designed electrothermal vaporization and pressurization device for a liquid rocket engine.

[0032] In the figure: 1. inlet one-way valve; 2. liquid collecting bottle; 3. liquid collecting pipeline; 4. heating unit; 5. gas collecting pipeline; 6. exhaust valve; 7. outlet one-way valve; 4-1. heating shell; 4-2. solenoid; 4-3. heating chamber; 4-4. heat-conducting medium layer; 4-5. electric heating rod. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0034] Example 1

[0035] An embodiment of a modular design electric thermal vaporization supercharging device for a liquid rocket engine of the present invention is as follows: Figure 1As shown, it includes: a liquid collecting bottle 2, a gas collecting pipeline 5, a liquid collecting pipeline 3 and a heating unit 4; wherein, the inlet of the liquid collecting bottle 2 is connected to the liquid nitrogen pipeline, and an inlet check valve 1 is provided on the inlet of the liquid collecting bottle 2; one end of the gas collecting pipeline 5 is connected to the liquid nitrogen pipeline between the inlet check valve 1 and the liquid collecting bottle 2, and the other end of the gas collecting pipeline 5 is connected to the high-pressure container through the outlet check valve 7, and an exhaust valve 6 is also provided on the gas collecting pipeline 5; one end of the liquid collecting pipeline 3 is connected to the outlet of the liquid collecting bottle 2, and the other end of the liquid collecting pipeline 3 is connected to the gas collecting pipeline 5, and the heating unit 4 is provided on the liquid collecting pipeline 3, and is used to heat the liquid nitrogen in the liquid collecting pipeline 3.

[0036] Specifically, embodiment 1 includes two heating units 4, each heating unit includes: a heating shell 4-1, an electric heating rod 4-5 and a solenoid 4-2, a heating chamber 4-3 is arranged in the heating shell 4-1; the electric heating rod 4-5 is arranged in the heating chamber 4-3, and the outer periphery of the electric heating rod 4-5 is coated with a heat-conducting medium layer 4-4; the solenoid 4-2 is wound around the outer periphery of the heat-conducting medium layer 4-4 of the electric heating rod 4-5; wherein, the liquid collecting pipeline 3 is passed through the solenoid 4-2.

[0037] Among them, the liquid collecting pipeline 3 includes a main pipeline, which is connected to multiple branch pipelines. The number of branch pipelines is the same as the number of heating chambers 4-3. Each branch pipeline is arranged around the outer periphery of the heat-conducting medium layer 4-4 of the electric heating rod 4-5 of the corresponding heating chamber 4-3.

[0038] Specifically, the material of the heat conducting medium layer 4 - 4 is tin metal.

[0039] Specifically, among the multiple heating chambers 4-3, one heating chamber 4-3 is arranged at the center of the heating shell 4-1, and the remaining heating chambers 4-3 are evenly distributed around the central heating chamber 4-3 inside the heating shell 4-1; or the multiple heating chambers 4-3 are divided into two layers and arranged inside the heating shell 4-1, or the multiple heating chambers 4-3 are arranged in one layer and arranged inside the heating shell 4-1. The arrangement of the multiple heating chambers 4-3 is as follows: Figure 5 shown.

[0040] Specifically, the high-pressure container is a high-pressure gas cylinder.

[0041] Specifically, the liquid collecting bottle 2, the gas collecting pipeline 5, the liquid collecting pipeline 3, the solenoid 4-2 and the heating shell 4-1 are all integrally formed by using 3D printing technology.

[0042] Example 2

[0043] Based on Example 1, this example Figure 2As shown, the embodiment 2 includes a heating unit 4, each of which includes: a heating shell 4-1, an electric heating rod 4-5 and a solenoid 4-2, and four heating chambers 4-3 are arranged in the heating shell 4-1; the electric heating rod 4-5 is arranged in the heating chamber 4-3, and the outer periphery of the electric heating rod 4-5 is coated with a heat-conducting medium layer 4-4; the solenoid 4-2 is wound around the outer periphery of the heat-conducting medium layer 4-4 of the electric heating rod 4-5; wherein the liquid collecting pipeline 3 is passed through the solenoid 4-2;

[0044] Example 3

[0045] On the basis of Example 1, Figure 3 As shown, this embodiment includes two heating units 4, and each heating shell 4-1 is provided with two heating chambers 4-3, the two heating units 4 are symmetrically arranged about the liquid collecting bottle 2, and the outlet of the solenoid 4-2 of the heating unit 4 on the left side of the liquid collecting bottle 2 is connected to the liquid nitrogen pipeline between the inlet one-way valve 1 and the liquid collecting bottle 2 through the gas collecting pipeline 5, one end of one of the gas collecting pipelines 5 away from the liquid nitrogen pipeline is connected to the high-pressure container through the outlet one-way valve 7, and an exhaust valve 6 is provided on the gas collecting pipeline 5 between the outlet one-way valve 7 and the liquid nitrogen pipeline.

[0046] Example 4

[0047] On the basis of Example 1, Figure 4 As shown, the heating units 4 of this embodiment include at least three, and the three heating units 4 are arranged in series along the liquid collecting pipeline 3, each heating unit 4 includes two heating chambers 4-3, and an exhaust valve 6 is provided on the gas collecting pipeline 5 between every two adjacent heating units 4. The outlet of the heating unit 4 is connected to the inlet of the solenoid 4-2 of the next heating unit 4 through the outlet check valve 7, and the outlet of the gas collecting pipeline 5 of the last heating unit 4 is connected to the high-pressure container through an outlet check valve 7.

[0048] Specific working principle

[0049] There are four typical processes when the booster device is working: preheating process, boosting process, inflation process, refilling process and shutdown cooling process; taking the charging of a 30MPa high-pressure nitrogen cylinder as an example, before starting work, the exhaust valve 6 is normally open, the inlet check valve 1 and the outlet check valve 7 are closed, and each position of the booster device is at room temperature; during the preheating process, the valve state is kept unchanged, the heating rod 4-5 of the heating unit 4 is powered on and the temperature exceeds 232°C, the tin metal thermal conductive medium melts into molten tin liquid, and the booster device is fully preheated to meet working requirements; during the boosting process, low-pressure liquid nitrogen is added through the inlet check valve 1, the exhaust valve 6 is closed, and the liquid nitrogen flows from the liquid collecting bottle 2 into the liquid collecting pipeline 3, and then enters the solenoid 4-2, and the heating rod 4-5 is heated by the molten tin liquid The heating shell 4-1 of the heating unit 4 is continuously heated, and the low-temperature liquid nitrogen absorbs heat and vaporizes in the solenoid 4-2 on the inner wall of the heating chamber 4-3 of the heating unit 4 to generate high-pressure nitrogen; during the inflation process, the pressure of the boosting device continues to increase, the outlet one-way valve 7 is pushed open, and the high-pressure nitrogen cylinder begins to be inflated; if the volume of liquid nitrogen injected at one time cannot meet the pressure increase demand of the cylinder, the refilling process is carried out, the exhaust valve 6 is opened, the boosting device quickly releases the pressure to the room pressure, the outlet one-way valve 7 is automatically closed, and low-pressure liquid nitrogen is added, and the pressure increase process and the inflation process are repeated; after the high-pressure nitrogen cylinder is full, the shutdown cooling process is carried out, the heating rod 4-5 is powered off, the exhaust valve 6 is opened, the pressure of the boosting device is rapidly reduced to the room pressure, and the temperature is slowly reduced to room temperature, and the molten tin liquid solidifies.

[0050] In summary, an embodiment of the present invention provides a modularly designed electric vaporization and boosting device for a liquid rocket engine. The boosting device of the present invention adopts a modular design, that is, the heating unit of the present invention can be freely arranged and combined according to different ground test devices and rocket configurations to meet the system heating requirements, and is suitable for various ground test devices and rocket configurations; the electric heating rod is easy to control to meet the vaporization and boosting requirements under different working conditions. Secondly, the present invention uses metal tin as a heat transfer medium. When the boosting device is turned off, the metal tin is cooled to a solid. During the operation of the boosting device, the metal tin melts to form a molten tin liquid, thereby increasing the heat exchange efficiency; through the cooperation of the exhaust valve, the inlet check valve, and the outlet check valve, the low-pressure liquid nitrogen filling process is realized, avoiding the use of high-pressure liquid nitrogen containers and high-power positive displacement pumps, and simplifying the complexity of the boosting system.

[0051] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A modular design electrothermal vaporization booster for a liquid rocket engine, characterized in that: include: A liquid collecting bottle (2), the inlet of which is connected to the liquid nitrogen pipeline and is provided with an inlet non-return valve (1); A gas collecting pipeline (5), one end of which is connected to the liquid nitrogen pipeline between the inlet one-way valve (1) and the liquid collecting bottle (2), and the other end of which is connected to the high-pressure container via the outlet one-way valve (7), and an exhaust valve (6) is also provided on the gas collecting pipeline (5); A liquid collecting pipeline (3), one end of which is connected to the outlet of the liquid collecting bottle (2), and the other end of which is connected to the gas collecting pipeline (5); and a heating unit (4), arranged on the liquid collecting pipeline (3) and used for heating the liquid nitrogen in the liquid collecting pipeline (3); The heating unit (4) comprises: A heating shell (4-1) having a plurality of heating chambers (4-3) arranged therein; An electric heating rod (4-5) is arranged in the heating chamber (4-3), and the outer circumference of the electric heating rod (4-5) is coated with a heat-conducting medium layer (4-4); and a solenoid (4-2) wound around the outer periphery of the heat-conducting medium layer (4-4) of the electric heating rod (4-5); Wherein, the liquid collecting pipeline (3) is arranged in the solenoid (4-2); The liquid collecting pipeline (3) comprises a main pipeline, the main pipeline is connected to a plurality of branch pipelines, the number of the branch pipelines is the same as the number of the heating chambers (4-3), and each branch pipeline is arranged around the outer periphery of the heat-conducting medium layer (4-4) of the electric heating rod (4-5) of the corresponding heating chamber (4-3); The heating units (4) include a plurality of heating units, and each heating unit (4) is arranged in series or in parallel; wherein, when arranged in series, an exhaust valve (6) is provided on the gas collecting pipeline (5) between every two adjacent heating units (4), the outlet of the heating unit (4) is connected to the inlet of the solenoid (4-2) of the next heating unit (4) through an outlet one-way valve (7), the outlet of the gas collecting pipeline (5) of the last heating unit (4) is connected to the high-pressure container through an outlet one-way valve (7), and when arranged in parallel, the outlets of the solenoids (4-2) on all the heating units (4) are connected to the gas collecting pipeline (5).

2. A modular design electrothermal vaporization and supercharging device for a liquid rocket engine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The material of the heat conducting medium layer (4-4) is tin metal.

3. A modular design electrothermal vaporization and supercharging device for a liquid rocket engine according to claim 1, characterized in that: Among the multiple heating cavities (4-3), one heating cavity (4-3) is arranged at the center of the interior of the heating shell (4-1), and the remaining heating cavities (4-3) are evenly distributed around the central heating cavity (4-3) inside the heating shell (4-1); or the multiple heating cavities (4-3) are divided into two layers and arranged inside the heating shell (4-1); or the multiple heating cavities (4-3) are arranged in one layer and arranged inside the heating shell (4-1).

4. A modular design electrothermal vaporization and supercharging device for a liquid rocket engine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The liquid collecting bottle (2), the gas collecting pipeline (5), the liquid collecting pipeline (3), the solenoid (4-2) and the heating shell (4-1) are all integrally formed.

5. A modular design electrothermal vaporization and supercharging device for a liquid rocket engine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The high-pressure container is a high-pressure gas cylinder.

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