An industrial-grade, high-thrust, extrusion-type liquid rocket

Abstract

This invention discloses an industrial-grade high-thrust extrusion liquid rocket, comprising: a liquid oxygen tank, a fuel tank, a liquid nitrogen tank, a liquid nitrogen pump, a vaporization device, a liquid oxygen heating coil, a fuel heating coil, and a combustion chamber. The propulsion system of this invention eliminates the liquid oxygen pump, fuel pump, and independent high-pressure gas cylinders. The liquid nitrogen pump is only used to extract inert liquid nitrogen, posing no safety hazards and requiring no precision moving parts for sealing. Furthermore, the pressure of the propellant delivered into the combustion chamber originates from the extrusion pressure of the high-pressure nitrogen gas combined with the expansion force during propellant vaporization. The high-pressure nitrogen gas bears the majority of the extrusion pressure, while the liquid nitrogen pump only needs to provide the basic pressure. Therefore, the liquid nitrogen pump does not need to bear the entire delivery load and can directly use a civilian-grade conventional turbopump. The procurement cost or mass production cost is only 1 / 10 or less of that of an aerospace-grade turbopump. The annular groove of the vaporization device serves as the liquid nitrogen vaporization channel, and its flange structure forms the external reinforcement structure of the combustion chamber.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention specifically relates to an industrial-grade high-thrust extrusion liquid rocket. Background Technology

[0002] Space transportation systems are core equipment in the modern aerospace industry. Liquid rockets, due to their advantages such as adjustable thrust, high reusability, and high launch efficiency, are widely used in satellite launches, manned spaceflight, and deep space exploration. Currently, liquid rockets are mainly divided into two categories: pump-fed and extrusion-fed. However, both types have significant technical shortcomings, making it difficult to meet the demands of industrial-scale mass production, low cost, and high reliability required for commercial aerospace development. Traditional pump-jet rockets have high structural complexity and low reliability. The turbopump needs to drive the fuel pump or oxidizer pump, and the pump chamber and turbine end are isolated only by a dynamic seal. Under high-speed rotation (the speed usually exceeds 10,000 r / min), the seal is prone to wear and failure, which leads to fuel and oxidizer leakage and premixing, causing catastrophic safety accidents such as spontaneous combustion, deflagration, or even pump body explosion. At the same time, the oxygen pump is in contact with liquid oxygen for a long time, which is prone to oxidation and corrosion, further reducing the service life and reliability of the turbopump.

[0003] Traditional pump-jet rockets are expensive to manufacture and difficult to mass-produce. As a core precision component, the turbopump has extremely high requirements for material properties (such as high temperature resistance and fatigue resistance) and machining precision (such as impeller dynamic balancing and clearance control). It requires the use of special aerospace-grade materials and precision machining processes. Some key components even rely on customized technologies such as 3D printing, resulting in high manufacturing costs and making it difficult to achieve large-scale mass production. In addition, turbopump drive usually requires an independent pre-combustion chamber to generate a fuel-rich gas supply structure, which increases the overall size and weight of the engine and reduces the rocket's carrying capacity.

[0004] Traditional squeeze-type liquid rockets have limited thrust and payload efficiency. To obtain sufficient propellant delivery pressure, the tanks must withstand extremely high internal pressure, which requires the tanks to adopt a thick-walled structure design. This results in a significant increase in tank weight, a higher proportion of flight waste weight, and a significant reduction in rocket payload efficiency. At the same time, the upper limit of the tank's internal pressure directly limits the working pressure of the combustion chamber, making the engine's specific impulse much lower than that of turbopump-type designs. This makes it difficult to achieve high thrust output and is only suitable for low-thrust scenarios such as final stage rockets.

[0005] Traditional squeeze rockets mostly use high-pressure gas cylinders as the pressurization gas source. High-pressure gas cylinders are not only heavy and costly, but also pose high-pressure safety risks. Some schemes use gasified propellant for pressurization, but lack efficient heat exchange and pressure regulation structures, resulting in unstable pressurization pressure and affecting the continuity and stability of propellant delivery.

[0006] The two types of rockets mentioned above also share a common problem: the combustion chamber, as a core component under high temperature and pressure, needs to balance thermal protection and structural strength. Traditional solutions often adopt a design with separate reinforcing ribs and heat exchange devices, which leads to structural redundancy and increased weight, further exacerbating the contradiction between launch efficiency and structural strength.

[0007] With the rapid development of the commercial space industry, the market has put forward core requirements for industrial-grade high-thrust liquid rockets: "low cost, high reliability, mass production capability, and strong adaptability." These requirements necessitate the high thrust advantages of turbopump rockets while maintaining the structural simplicity of extrusion rockets; they also demand that core components be sourced or manufactured through the civilian supply chain while meeting aerospace-grade operational reliability. However, existing turbopump and extrusion rocket solutions cannot simultaneously meet these requirements, leaving a significant technological gap: a liquid rocket propulsion system that requires no independent propellant pump, no high-pressure gas cylinders, is adaptable to civilian-grade components, and combines high thrust with lightweight design is lacking.

[0008] Therefore, this invention aims to overcome the above-mentioned defects of the prior art and provide an industrial-grade high-thrust extrusion liquid rocket. Through innovative vaporization device structural design, propellant pressure superposition mechanism, and combustion chamber manufacturing process optimization, it achieves mass production and low cost of core components while ensuring high thrust output and high reliability, filling the technological gap in the commercial aerospace field for industrial-grade liquid rockets. Summary of the Invention

[0009] To overcome the shortcomings mentioned above, the present invention aims to provide a technical solution that can solve the above problems.

[0010] An industrial-grade high-thrust extrusion liquid rocket includes: a liquid oxygen tank, a fuel tank, a liquid nitrogen tank, a liquid nitrogen pump, a vaporization device, a liquid oxygen heating coil, a fuel heating coil, and a combustion chamber; The inlet of the liquid nitrogen pump is connected to the liquid nitrogen storage tank, and the outlet of the liquid nitrogen pump is connected to the vaporization device. The outlet of the vaporization device is connected to the air cushion space of the liquid oxygen storage tank, the air cushion space of the fuel storage tank, and the air cushion space of the liquid nitrogen storage tank, respectively. The outlet of the liquid oxygen storage tank is connected to the inlet of the liquid oxygen heating coil, and the outlet of the liquid oxygen heating coil is connected to the liquid oxygen injector in the combustion chamber; the outlet of the fuel storage tank is connected to the inlet of the fuel heating coil, and the outlet of the fuel heating coil is connected to the fuel inlet of the combustion chamber; heating coils are wound around the outside of both the liquid oxygen heating coil and the fuel heating coil. The vaporization device is a flange structure with an annular groove, and flange lugs are provided at both ends of the butt joint. Bolt holes are provided on the flange lugs. Preferably, the annular groove of the vaporization device and the outer wall of the combustion chamber form a liquid nitrogen vaporization channel arranged around the outer wall of the combustion chamber; Preferably, the annular groove of the vaporization device is sealed to the outer wall of the combustion chamber by arc welding. Preferably, the outer wall of the combustion chamber is a cylindrical splicing structure, which is formed by rolling, circumferential welding, and forging. Preferably, the flange lugs and the bolt holes are used to insert bolts to tighten the combustion chamber of the vaporization device.

[0011] Compared with the prior art, the advantages of the present invention are: The power system of this invention eliminates the liquid oxygen pump, fuel pump, and independent high-pressure gas cylinder. The liquid nitrogen pump is only used to extract inert liquid nitrogen, posing no safety hazards and requiring no precision moving parts for sealing. Furthermore, the pressure of the propellant delivered to the combustion chamber is formed by the superposition of the extrusion pressure of high-pressure nitrogen and the expansion force during propellant vaporization. The high-pressure nitrogen bears most of the extrusion pressure, while the liquid nitrogen pump only needs to provide the basic pressure. Therefore, the liquid nitrogen pump does not need to bear the entire delivery load and can directly use a civilian-grade conventional turbopump. The procurement cost or mass production cost is only 1 / 10 or less of that of an aerospace-grade turbopump, without the need for customized research and development.

[0012] The pressurization pressure formed by high-pressure nitrogen in the gas pillow space of the liquid nitrogen tank enables independent pressurization of liquid nitrogen in the liquid nitrogen tank. This eliminates the need for the liquid nitrogen tank to be designed as a high-pressure resistant structure, significantly reducing the pressure load on the liquid nitrogen tank. The tank wall thickness can be further reduced, which lowers both the manufacturing cost of the tank and the ineffective load of the rocket.

[0013] The annular groove of the vaporization device of the present invention serves as a liquid nitrogen vaporization channel to achieve heat exchange between liquid nitrogen and the combustion chamber. Its flange structure and the clamping effect of bolts form an external reinforcing structure for the combustion chamber, reducing radial deformation of the combustion chamber during operation.

[0014] Additional aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. Attached Figure Description

[0015] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0016] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 2 This is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of the combustion chamber of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0018] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0019] In the description of this invention, it should be noted that the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing this invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this invention.

[0020] Furthermore, in the description of this invention, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," "linking," etc., should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; they can refer to the internal connection of two components; they can refer to a wireless connection or a wired connection. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this invention based on the specific circumstances.

[0021] Furthermore, the technical features involved in the different embodiments of the present invention described below can be combined with each other as long as they do not conflict with each other.

[0022] Please see Figures 1-2 In this embodiment of the invention, the industrial-grade high-thrust squeeze-type liquid rocket disclosed in this embodiment includes a liquid oxygen tank 1, a fuel tank 2, a liquid nitrogen tank 3, a liquid nitrogen pump 4, a liquid oxygen heating coil 5, a fuel heating coil 6, and a combustion chamber 7. The components are connected by high-temperature resistant sealed pipelines and flange structures to form a complete propellant supply and combustion system.

[0023] In this embodiment, the fuel storage tank 2 can be a kerosene storage tank or a boiler container, depending on the pressure requirements; the liquid oxygen storage tank 1 and the liquid nitrogen storage tank 3 both adopt a vacuum-insulated double-layer cylindrical structure, taking into account the requirements of low temperature resistance, low evaporation rate and lightweight structure.

[0024] In this embodiment, the liquid nitrogen pump 4 is designed for cryogenic liquid nitrogen delivery and can be either gas-driven or electric-driven. If a pneumatically driven liquid nitrogen pump 4 is selected, high-temperature combustion gas can be extracted from the combustion chamber 7, cooled, and then used to drive the turbine end, which in turn drives the pump end. The liquid nitrogen pump 4 is a civilian industrial-grade product, such as oil pumps used in the petrochemical industry, civilian pneumatic-hydraulic pumps, or civilian vertical turbine pumps. This allows for direct mass production or direct procurement, significantly reducing manufacturing costs. The liquid nitrogen pump 4 only drives liquid nitrogen and does not directly contact liquid oxygen or fuel, avoiding the risk of fuel and oxidizer leakage and premixing within the pump chamber, as is common in traditional turbine pumps, and completely eliminating safety accidents such as spontaneous combustion and deflagration.

[0025] In this embodiment, the inlet of the liquid nitrogen pump 4 is connected to the liquid nitrogen storage tank 3, the outlet of the liquid nitrogen pump 4 is connected to the vaporization device 8, and the outlet of the vaporization device 8 is connected to the air cushion space of the liquid oxygen storage tank 1, the air cushion space of the fuel storage tank 2, and the air cushion space of the liquid nitrogen storage tank 3, respectively.

[0026] After the liquid nitrogen pump 4 starts, it draws liquid nitrogen from the liquid nitrogen storage tank 3 through the negative pressure effect generated at the pump end, and simultaneously pressurizes the liquid nitrogen to the base pressure. The pressurized liquid nitrogen is then transported to the vaporization device 8 through a cryogenic high-pressure pipeline (with valves installed on the pipeline). The liquid nitrogen rapidly absorbs heat from the outer wall of the combustion chamber 7, causing it to rapidly vaporize into high-pressure nitrogen gas. The high-pressure nitrogen gas expands rapidly and is introduced into the gas cushion spaces of the liquid oxygen storage tank 1, fuel storage tank 2, and liquid nitrogen storage tank 3 through branch pipelines (the three tanks are independently supplied with gas, and pressure regulating valves are installed on the pipelines), establishing an initial pressurization pressure and pushing liquid oxygen and fuel into the heating coil. At the same time, the extrusion pressure formed by the high-pressure nitrogen gas in the gas cushion space of the liquid nitrogen storage tank 3 achieves independent pressurization of the liquid nitrogen in the liquid nitrogen storage tank 3, without requiring the liquid nitrogen storage tank 3 to withstand excessively high internal pressure. Therefore, the liquid nitrogen storage tank 3 does not need to be equipped with excessively high-pressure thick walls, reducing the weight of the liquid nitrogen storage tank 3 and the rocket's ineffective payload.

[0027] In this embodiment, both the liquid oxygen heating coil 5 and the fuel heating coil 6 are made of stainless steel, and heating coils (not shown in the attached drawings) are wound around the outside of both coils. The inlet of the liquid oxygen heating coil 5 is connected to the outlet of the liquid oxygen storage tank 1, and the outlet of the liquid oxygen heating coil 5 is connected to the liquid oxygen injector of the combustion chamber 7; the inlet of the fuel heating coil 6 is connected to the outlet of the fuel storage tank 2, and the outlet of the fuel heating coil 6 is connected to the fuel inlet of the combustion chamber 7. The liquid oxygen in the liquid oxygen storage tank 1 enters the liquid oxygen heating coil 5 under the impetus of the high-pressure nitrogen in the gas pillow, and the kerosene or methanol in the fuel storage tank 2 enters the fuel heating coil 6. The two propellants absorb the heat from the auxiliary heating of the heating coils in their respective coils, undergoing partial vaporization and generating significant expansion force; the high-pressure nitrogen pressurization pressure combined with the propellant's own thermal expansion force results in a total delivery pressure exceeding 20 MPa, which is sufficient to drive a large flow of propellant into the combustion chamber 7.

[0028] The pressure of the propellant delivered to the combustion chamber 7 originates from the extrusion pressure of high-pressure nitrogen in the gas cushion space within the liquid oxygen tank 1 or fuel tank 2, combined with the expansion force during propellant vaporization. High-pressure nitrogen bears the majority of the extrusion pressure, while the liquid nitrogen pump 4 only needs to provide the basic pressure. Therefore, the liquid nitrogen pump 4 does not need to bear the entire delivery load and can directly use a civilian-grade conventional turbopump. The procurement cost or mass production cost is only 1 / 10 or less of that of an aerospace-grade turbopump, without the need for customized research and development.

[0029] The pressurization pressure formed by high-pressure nitrogen in the gas pillow space of liquid nitrogen tank 3 enables independent pressurization of liquid nitrogen in liquid nitrogen tank 3. This eliminates the need for liquid nitrogen tank 3 to be designed as a high-pressure resistant structure, significantly reducing the pressure load on liquid nitrogen tank 3. The tank wall thickness can be further reduced, which not only reduces the manufacturing cost of the tank but also reduces the ineffective load of the rocket.

[0030] The power system of this invention eliminates the liquid oxygen pump, fuel pump and independent high-pressure gas cylinder, while the liquid nitrogen pump 4 is only used to extract inert liquid nitrogen, which poses no safety hazard. Therefore, there is no need for precision moving parts to achieve sealing. On the one hand, it reduces the weight of the power system, and on the other hand, it simplifies the supply chain and reduces the cost of component procurement and assembly. All core components can be directly procured or simply processed through the civilian industrial supply chain to achieve mass production.

[0031] In this embodiment of the invention, the combustion chamber 7 is the core combustion component, and its outer wall adopts a cylindrical splicing structure. The specific manufacturing process is as follows: 304 stainless steel plate is selected as the cylindrical base material, and the plate is first rolled into a cylindrical body through a rolling process; the joint of the rolled cylinder is welded into shape using a circumferential seam welding process, and non-destructive testing is performed after welding to ensure that the weld is free of defects such as pores and cracks; the weld of the combustion chamber 7 is subjected to high-temperature forging and strengthening treatment, and the forging pressure is controlled at 15-20MPa to squeeze out the air bubbles in the weld and improve the overall rigidity and heat resistance of the combustion chamber 7.

[0032] In this embodiment of the invention, the vaporization device 8 is a flange structure with an annular groove, which is integrally formed from stainless steel. At both ends of the mating connection of the vaporization device 8, flange ear plates 81 are integrally formed. Each flange ear plate 81 is provided with bolt holes 82. High-strength bolts are passed through the bolt holes 82 to clamp and fix the vaporization device 8 to the outer wall of the combustion chamber 7. The contact between the annular groove of the vaporization device 8 and the outer wall of the combustion chamber 7 is sealed by arc welding, which not only ensures the sealing of the liquid nitrogen vaporization channel, but also enhances the connection strength between the vaporization device 8 and the combustion chamber 7.

[0033] The vaporization device 8 has a dual function: its annular groove serves as a liquid nitrogen vaporization channel to achieve heat exchange between liquid nitrogen and combustion chamber 7; its flange structure and bolt clamping action form an external reinforcing structure for combustion chamber 7, reducing radial deformation of combustion chamber 7 during operation.

[0034] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the details of the exemplary embodiments described above, and that the invention can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the invention. Therefore, the embodiments should be considered in all respects as exemplary and non-limiting, and the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description. Thus, it is intended that all variations falling within the meaning and scope of equivalents of the claims be included within the present invention.

Claims

1. An industrial-grade, high-thrust, extrusion-type liquid rocket, characterized in that: include: Liquid oxygen storage tank, fuel storage tank, liquid nitrogen storage tank, liquid nitrogen pump, vaporization device, liquid oxygen heating coil, fuel heating coil and combustion chamber; The inlet of the liquid nitrogen pump is connected to the liquid nitrogen storage tank, and the outlet of the liquid nitrogen pump is connected to the vaporization device. The outlet of the vaporization device is connected to the air cushion space of the liquid oxygen storage tank, the air cushion space of the fuel storage tank, and the air cushion space of the liquid nitrogen storage tank, respectively. The outlet of the liquid oxygen storage tank is connected to the inlet of the liquid oxygen heating coil, and the outlet of the liquid oxygen heating coil is connected to the liquid oxygen injector in the combustion chamber; the outlet of the fuel storage tank is connected to the inlet of the fuel heating coil, and the outlet of the fuel heating coil is connected to the fuel inlet of the combustion chamber; heating coils are wound around the outside of both the liquid oxygen heating coil and the fuel heating coil. The vaporization device is a flange structure with an annular groove, and flange lugs are provided at both ends of the mating connection. Bolt holes are provided on the flange lugs.

2. The industrial-grade high-thrust extrusion liquid rocket according to claim 1, characterized in that, The annular groove of the vaporization device and the outer wall of the combustion chamber together form a liquid nitrogen vaporization channel arranged around the outer wall of the combustion chamber.

3. The industrial-grade high-thrust extrusion liquid rocket according to claim 2, characterized in that, The annular groove of the vaporization device is sealed to the outer wall of the combustion chamber by arc welding.

4. The industrial-grade high-thrust extrusion liquid rocket according to claim 1, characterized in that, The outer wall of the combustion chamber is a cylindrical splicing structure, which is formed by rolling, circumferential welding and forging.

5. The industrial-grade high-thrust extrusion liquid rocket according to claim 4, characterized in that, The flange lugs and bolt holes are used to insert bolts to tighten the combustion chamber of the vaporization device.

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