Combustion Characteristics of a Swirling LOX Type Hybrid Rocket Engine

We have proposed a swirling oxidizer type hybrid rocket engine. In this paper, liquid oxygen (LOX) was used as oxidizer. Combustion tests of a hybrid rocket engine with a swirling LOX flow were conducted by changing the swirl strength. Ignition was rapid and reliable, and combustion of PMMA with swirling LOX was stable. Fuel regression rates, C* efficiency and specific impulse of the hybrid rocket engine with swirling LOX flow were smaller than those with swirling gaseous oxygen (GOX). This low performance may be restraint of atomization and vaporization of LOX by formation of a liquid layer on the PMMA fuel and a decline of angular momentum of the swirling LOX during vaporization. Combustion oscillation occurred when the ratios of differential pressure between injector pressure and chamber pressure to chamber pressure were small. This combustion oscillation was confirmed to be a “Chugging” mode due to combustion time lag of LOX