BASIC GAS TURBINE

Rocket Propulsion
Liquid & Solid Propellant

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A liquid-fuel rocket or a liquid rocket is a rocket with an engine that

uses propellants in liquid form. Liquids are desirable because their
reasonably high density allows the volume and hence the mass of the
tanks to be relatively low, resulting in a high mass ratio. Liquid rockets
have been built as monopropellant rockets using a single type of
propellant, bipropellant rockets using two types of propellant, or more
exotic tripropellant rockets using three types of propellant. Bipropellant
liquid rockets generally use one liquid fuel and one liquid oxidizer,
such as liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Liquid propellants are also
sometimes used in hybrid rockets, in which they are combined with a
solid or gaseous propellant.

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The Space Shuttle main engines burn liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen
from the Space Shuttle external tank. They are used for propulsion
during its ascent, in addition to the two more powerful solid rocket
boosters and sometimes the Orbital Maneuvering System. Each engine
can generate almost 1.8 meganewtons (MN) or 400,000 lbf of thrust at
liftoff. The engines are capable of generating a specific impulse (Isp) of
453 seconds in a vacuum, or 363 seconds at sea level (exhaust
velocities of 4440 m/s and 3560 m/s respectively). Overall, a space
shuttle main engine weighs approximately 3.2 t (7,000 lb).

The Space Shuttle's rocket engines are capable of operating at extreme

temperatures. The liquid hydrogen fuel is stored at −253 degrees
Celsius (−423 degrees Fahrenheit). However, when burned with liquid
oxygen, the temperature in the combustion chamber reaches 3,300 °C
(6,000 °F), higher than the boiling point of iron.

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A solid rocket or a solid-fuel rocket is a rocket with a motor that uses

solid propellants (fuel/oxidizer). The earliest rockets were solid fueled,
powered by gunpowder, used by the Chinese and Arabs in warfare as
early as the 13th century. All rockets used some form of solid or
powdered propellant up until the 20th century, when liquid rockets and
hybrid rockets offered more efficient and controllable alternatives.

Solid rockets are still used today in model rockets, and on larger
applications for their simplicity and reliability. Since solid fuel rockets
can remain in storage for long periods—and then reliably launch on
short notice—they have been frequently used in military applications
such as missiles. Solid fuel rockets are unusual as primary propulsion in
modern space exploration, but are commonly used as booster rockets.

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A simple solid rocket motor consists of a casing, nozzle, grain (propellant charge),
and igniter.
The grain behaves like a solid mass, burning in a predictable fashion and producing
exhaust gases. The nozzle dimensions are calculated to maintain a design chamber
pressure, while producing thrust from the exhaust gases.
Once ignited, a simple solid rocket motor cannot be shut off, because it contains all
the ingredients necessary for combustion within the chamber that they are burned
in. More advanced solid rocket motors can not only be throttled but can be
extinguished and then re-ignited by controlling the nozzle geometry or through the
use of vent ports. Also, pulsed rocket motors which burn in segments and which can
be ignited upon command are available.

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The Space Shuttle is launched with the help of two solid-fuel boosters known as SRBs

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Solid propellants (and almost all rocket propellants) consist of an oxidizer

and a fuel. In the case of gunpowder, the fuel is charcoal, the oxidizer is
potassium nitrate, and sulfur serves as a catalyst. (Note: sulfur is not a true
catalyst in gunpowder as it is consumed to a great extent into a variety of
reaction products such as K2S. The sulfur acts mainly as a sensitizer
lowering threshold of ignition.)

During the 1950s and 60s researchers in the United States developed what
is now the standard high-energy solid rocket fuel, Ammonium Perchlorate
Composite Propellant (APCP). This mixture is primarily ammonium
perchlorate powder (an oxidizer), combined with fine aluminium powder (a
fuel), held together in a base of PBAN or HTPB (rubber-like fuels). The
mixture is formed as a liquid, and then cast into the correct shape and cured
into a rubbery solid.

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