MONITORING OF ROCKET ENGINE PERFORMANCE BY SPECTROSCOPIC TECHNIQUES
Abstract
An analytical investigation was conducted to study the emission spectra of the exhaust stream of selected rocket engine liquid propellant combinations to determine the feasibility of detecting exhaust specie spectra as a measure of various propulsion system characteristics. The propellants selected for analysis were oxygen/hydrogen, oxygen/RP-1 and nitrogen tetroxide/ unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine as being most representative. A rocket engine for test was designed having a chamber pressure of 50-100 psia and a flow rate of 0.1 gm/sec. Calculations of signal strength with mixture ratio were made and the species OH, NH, CO and NO found to be of most interest. It was determined that mixture ratio variations and flow rate variations could be separately detected. A system for detecting incipient burnout by monitoring metallic oxide emissions and instability by intensity frequency pattern variations was presented. A flight weight system was shown to be feasible.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1964
- Accession Number
- AD0609492
Entities
People
- Robert F. Strauss