Parametric Study of Solid Fuel for Hydrogen Peroxide Hybrid Rocket Design

Abstract

In this study, impact of the port diameter and length changes of a solid fuel on its performance parameters was investigated to propose design considerations for the solid fuel for hydrogen peroxide/high-density polyethylene hybrid rockets. A laboratory-scale hydrogen peroxide/high-density hybrid rocket was designed to perform a parametric study of the solid fuel through experiments. The ratio of the nozzle throat area to the fuel port area and ratio of the fuel length to the fuel port diameter were used to design the port diameter and length of the solid fuel. Altering the fuel port diameter affected the characteristic velocity efficiency, oxidizer mass flux, velocity-based erosive burning, oxidizer-to-fuel ratio, and regression rate. Altering the fuel length affected the oxidizer-to-fuel ratio and characteristic velocity efficiency and had little effect on the regression rate because it did not significantly contribute to the change in the oxidizer mass flux. No improvement was observed in the characteristic velocity efficiency after the ratio of the fuel length to the fuel port diameter reached 20. Finally, design considerations for the port diameter and length of the solid fuel for a hydrogen peroxide/high-density polyethylene hybrid rocket were suggested based on the experimental results considering the changes in the ratio of the nozzle throat area to the fuel port area and ratio of the fuel length to the fuel port diameter.