The Vortex Cooled Chamber Wall Engine: A Tamed Tornado

Abstract

The violent winds within tornadoes are among the most powerful forces on the face of the Earth. The Orbital Technologies Corporation (ORBITEC(tm)) of Madison, WI has discovered a way to harness the forces of a powerful tornado-like vortex flow within a new rocket engine where the chamber walls are protected from the fierce heat of combustion by a vortex flow field. This tamed tornado exists today as the vortex cooled chamber wall (VCCW) rocket engine and is the focus of a 15-month, million-dollar study contract awarded in June 2005 to an Aerojet-led team including ORBITEC, Space Systems/Loral, and Microcosm. The California Space Authority worked to obtain support for this study through the office of Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), and the funding was derived from efforts of the U.S. Congress and Air Force supporting development of advanced launch vehicles.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 03, 2005
Accession Number
ADA452364

Entities

People

  • Andrew E. Turner
  • William H. Knuth

Organizations

  • Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Chambers
  • Combustion
  • Combustion Chambers
  • Contracts
  • Corporations
  • Dielectric Gases
  • Engines
  • Flow
  • Flow Fields
  • Launch Vehicles
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Rocket Engines
  • Rockets
  • Space Systems
  • Vehicles

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Educational Psychology
  • Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics.
  • Rocket Propulsion.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster