Redesign and Manufacture of a Liquid-Gas Rocket Engine

All rocket engines, both solid fueled and liquid fueled, work by the same basic principle. A rocket harnesses the chemical energy in its fuel by combusting the fuel at high pressure and accelerates the combustion gasses to high velocity to provide thrust. The goal of this project was to design, build, and test a small scale, liquid-gas fueled rocket engine. The design of the engine was divided into three main components: the fuel injector, combustion chamber, and cooling jacket. The fuel injector introduces liquid kerosene and gaseous oxygen into the combustion chamber, where it is ignited and accelerated out the nozzle. The fuel injector and combustion chamber were made of copper, due to its high heat transfer capability. The gap between these two parts was sealed by a custom made stainless steel gasket with a ceramic facing material, to ensure that it can withstand the extremely high temperatures of the gases within the combustion chamber. The cooling jacket fits around he combustion chamber, with a small gap in between the two parts in which water is circulated to remove the heat generated by the combustion chamber and prevent deformation in the copper. All three parts are screwed together, so the engine can be easily disassembled after each test for inspection. I will discuss the decision process and detailed analysis competed to arrive at this design, as well as the manufacturing challenges that arose and suggestions for improvement for future projects.