This section represents a preparatory approach to the main subject.

It aims at providing basic design data on which the design process will be based. 1. Rocket turbopumps an overview Generally speaking, a turbopump is simply composed of a pump (sometimes two pumps) and a driving turbine, both mounted on the same shaft or coupled via a reduction gearbox. It is designed in different configurations and features according to the field of application. Common fields of applications are:

Industrial projects. Turbojet engines. Ramjet motors. Rocket engines.

Though of these various fields of applications, turbopumps have the reputation for mainly being used with rockets, replacing the place of the heavy pressurized tanks. So, the term " rocket turbopump" is common in this field of literature. Using turbopumps in rocket engines greatly improves the engine performance as would be shown later. But, the demand on attaining higher engine performance has imposed more sophistications on turbopump design.
Rocket turbopumps have a reputation for being extremely hard to design to get optimum performance. Whereas a well engineered pump can manage 70-90% efficiency, figures less than half that are common. Low efficiency may be acceptable in some applications, but in rocketry this is a severe problem. Turbopumps in rockets are important and problematic enough that launch vehicles using one have been described as a 'turbopump with a rocket attached'- up to 55% of the total cost has been ascribed to this area

Both centrifugal and axial pumps are used in rocket turbopumps but centrifugal pumps have proven to be the best choice for rocket applications due to their ability to generate higher discharge head in one stage. The high discharge head is a significant factor in selecting pumps for rocket engines. Nevertheless; axial pumps are also used in some rocket turbopumps as pumping units ( ), but they are commonly used as 'inducers' for centrifugal pumps. The inducer plays an important role in

rocket turbopumps where it raises the inlet pressure of the centrifugal pump enough to prevent excessive cavitation from occurring in the suction side of the pumping lines. Cavitation is the main problem that limits pump speed whereas the pump speed is the independent variable to which the head rise is related by the form : head rise(H) shaft speed(N) squared. Therefore, cavitation avoidance is considered to be the pump key parameter in the design level. Other methods used to suppress cavitation in the suction side also exist, such as using independent boosting pumps ? before the main pump and slightly pressurizing the propellant tanks. 1.2 Design arrangement The following arrangements are commonly used in rocket turbopumps?: 1. Two pumps - direct drive with outboard turbine. The two pumps are mounted on the same shaft close to each other with turbine outboard. The turbine shaft goes through the fuel pump inlet, figure 1,1.a . 2. Two pumps - direct drive with turbine in middle The two pumps are mounted on the same shaft but with the turbine placed in the middle. The common shaft goes through the turbine discharge manifold, figure 1,1.b . 3. Gear drive The two pumps are driven by a gearbox each with a separate shaft. The gearbox is driven by the turbine, figure 1,1.c . 4. Two pumps two turbines The two pumps each is driven by a separate turbine. The driving gas either flows in parallel or in series, figure 1,1.d . 5. Four pumps four turbines Here there are two main pumps and two booster pumps each with its own driving turbine, figure 1,1.b .

Common problems associated with centrifugal pumps include: 1.excessive flow from the high pressure rim back to the low pressure inlet along the gap between the casing of the pump and the rotor 2.excessive recirculation of the fluid at inlet 3.excessive vortexing of the fluid as it leaves the casing of the pump

In addition, the precise shape of the rotor itself is critical.

1.3 Rocket engine features and performance parameters affecting the pumping system design:
P T T P

(c) Gear drive design arrangements of rocket turbopums Figure 1.1 Some (e) Four pumps four turbines

P P

Even the design configuration of a rocket turbopump is highly dependent on the following engine requirements and factors which characterize the rocket engine: The engine requirements for flow and pressure. The engine cycle or power cycle. The engine throttling requirements. The types of propellants used. The propellant inlet conditions. Having these engine requirements and features been well decided , the turbopump configuration can be selected based on optimizing the pumps for each propellant, the turbine for the drive gas available energy, and the mechanical design arrangement for reliability, weight and producibility considerations. Therefore, each of these factors would be discussed in the subsequent sections and the suitable selection is to be made either based on assumptions or on results of calculations. This will lead to the preliminary engine design suggested in the proposal. 1.3.1 The engine requirements for flow and pressure On the basics of mass conservation, the mass flow rate of exhaust gases of the engine is the same as the propellants mass flow rate delivered by the pumps to the engine combustion chamber. Therefore, the engine thrust as one of the engine requirements is a function of the mass flow rate of propellants.? Also, for a specified engine and pair of propellants, the pressure of the combustion chamber can be increased by increasing the mass flow rate of the propellants? which leads to a better engine performance. ? Putting in mind that there will be considerable friction losses in the flow lines of the propellants expressed as pressure drops, and that there is the injection requirement for pressure difference, the pumps should deliver propellants at a discharge pressure considerably greater than the pressure of the combustion chamber. Consider equations (1.1), (1.2) and (1.3) bellow:
Below is an approximate equation for calculating the net thrust of a rocket engine

1.1

Where:

exhaust gas mass flow effective exhaust velocity actual jet velocity at nozzle exit plane flow area at nozzle exit plane (or the plane where the jet leaves the nozzle if separated flow) static pressure at nozzle exit plane ambient (or atmospheric) pressure
impulse thrust is equal to the product of the propellant mass flow rate and the exhaust gas ejection speed. The ideal exhaust velocity is given by

where k is the specific heat ratio, R' is the universal gas constant (8,314.51 Nm/kg mol-K in SI units, or 49,720 ft-lb/slug mol-oR in U.S. units), Tc is the combustion temperature, M is the average molecular weight of the exhaust gases, Pc is the combustion chamber pressure, and

1.3.2 The engine cycle The engine cycle terminology refers to the source of energy to drive the turbine. There are three types of engine cycles have been used in liquid rocket engines: The gas generator cycle. The staged combustion cycle. The expander cycle. In the gas-generator cycle (figure 1.1), a small percentage of the propellants (typically 3 to 7 percent) is bled off the main flow and sent to a separate small combustion chamber where the gas is generated and then expanded through the turbine of the turbopump. The hot gas is then either dumped overboard or sent into the main nozzle downstream. The gas generator must burn propellants at off-optimal mixture ratio to keep the temperature low for the turbine blades. Of course this leads to a small reduction in performance Thus, this cycle is appropriate for moderate power requirements but not high-power systems, which would have to divert a large portion of the main flow to the less efficient gas-generator flow.

As in most rocket engines, some of the propellant in a gas generator cycle is used to cool the nozzle and combustion chamber, increasing efficiency and allowing higher engine temperature.

Figure 1.1 The gas generator cycle

In a staged combustion cycle ( Figure 1.2 ), the propellants are burned in stages. Like the gas-generator cycle, this cycle also has a small combustion chamber called the preburner, which also generates gas for the turbopump turbine. The preburner as a first stage combustor, receives and burns a small amount of the oxidizer which is bled from the main flow, and all the amount of the fuel, thus producing a fuel-rich hot gas mixture that is mostly unburned vaporized propellant. This hot gas is then passed through the turbine, injected into the main chamber as a second stage combustor to burn again with the remaining oxidizer. The advantage of this cycle over the gas-generator cycle is that all of the propellants are burned at the optimal mixture ratio in the main chamber and no flow is dumped overboard which leads to higher engine performance. It suits high power applications.
The staged combustion cycle is often used for high-power applications. The higher the chamber pressure, the smaller and lighter the engine can be to produce the same thrust. Development cost for this cycle is higher because the high pressures complicate the development process. Further disadvantages are harsh turbine

conditions, high temperature piping required to carry hot gases, and a very complicated feedback and control design. Staged combustion was invented by Soviet engineers and first appeared in 1960. In the West, the first laboratory staged combustion test engine was built in Germany in 1963. .

Figure1.2 Staged combustion cycle

In the expander cycle (Figure 1.3), the small combustion chamber found in the other two cycles is completely eliminated. It makes use of the heat extracted from the engine to power the turbopump turbine. It is similar to the staged combustion cycle in the fact that no portion of the combusted propellants is dumped over board and all of the propellants are burned at the optimal mixture ratio; but another category of this cycle is found which uses only a portion of the fuel to drive the turbine where the turbine exhaust is dumped overboard to increase the turbine pressure ratio and power output. It is worth mentioning that this cycle works with fuels having a low boiling point and can be vaporized easily such as methane and hydrogen, which have a low boiling point and can be vaporized easily. Also, the power available to the turbine is limited by the heat transfer to the fuel which makes this cycle appropriate for small to midsize engines.

Figure 1.3 The expander cycle

The type of engine cycle selected also influences the turbopump requirements and configuration.. 1.3.3 The engine throttling requirements.

Rockets can be throttled by controlling the propellant rate .Therefore, the engine throttling requirements define the range of flow and discharge pressure that the turbopump must deliver with stable operation. 1.3.4 The types of propellants used Although both the propellants used in any liquid rocket engine are physically in the liquid phase, still the pump and turbine selection is affected by the type of the propellant used. That is due to the fact that propellants are found in wide density ranges and thermal properties. The variations in density lead to different pump head rise requirements and large differences in volumetric flow. For example, lower density propellants require a much higher head rise to develop the same discharge pressure (pressure rise = head rise density), which implies higher tip speed of the pump impeller (tip speed (gravity acceleration head rise))

Also, the differences in the propellants available energy have a significant influence on the turbine design. Table 1 shows common propellant combinations used for liquid propellant rockets and their properties affecting the turbopump design. Pair of propellants Red fuming nitric acid(RFNA) & kerosene or RP-1 RFNA & UDMH Dinitrogen tetroxide & Density(g/cm3) Vapor pressure or specific gravity 1.549(273K) 0.0027 0.78-0.81 0.807(290K) Boiling Heat of point(K) combustion

0.865(228K) 1.447(293K)

UDMH, MMH and/or Hydrazine Liquid 1.23(77.6K) oxygen & kerosene Hydrogen Peroxide & 0.424(111.5K) Alcohol or RP-1 Chlorine pentafluoride & 1.005(293K) Hydrazine

0.0052(88.78K )

0.101(117K)

111.6

0.0014(293K)

RFNA and kerosene or RP-1 RFNA and UDMH Dinitrogen tetroxide and UDMH, MMH and/or Hydrazine Liquid oxygen and kerosene or RP-1 Liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen Hydrogen Peroxide and alcohol or RP-1 Chlorine pentafluoride & Hydrazine

1.3.5 The propellant inlet conditions

The propellant inlet condition, which is expressed as the pump-inlet net positive suction pressure (NPSP=propellant inlet total pressure-propellant vapor pressure), dictates the pump's suction performance requirements, The pump suction performance requirement is its ability to operate at the available NPSP without detrimental cavitation
Pumps Pump configuration is based on the requirements derived from the engine system. Inlet conditions (NPSP), discharge pressure, flow rate, and operating range must all be satisfied. A parametric analysis is performed to select the best speed, diameter and number of stages compatible with the turbine and mechanical design considerations. The pump inlet diameter is generally selected based on the available NPSP. Test experience has been accumulated on inducers to correlate their suction performance as a function of the NPSP (generally expressed as NPSH), the fluid inlet meridional velocity (Cm), and the inducer flow coefficient (f). The inducer diameter (inlet area) is selected to limit the fluid meridional velocity (Cm) so that the available NPSH/Cm2 /2g is equal to or greater than 3 velocity heads for water, 2 for LO2 and 1 for LH2 . Variation in the empirical limit accounts for the difference in thermodynamic suppression head between water, LO2 and LH2. As the available inlet pressure and NPSH are decreased, the inducer diameter must be increased in order to decrease the fluid velocity (cm) and maintain NPSH/cm2/2g equal to the velocity head limit. The limit is also a function of the inducer flow coefficient, which is defined as the meridional velocity divided by the inducer tip speed:

Turbine efficiency is shown as a function of blade velocity and gas spouting velocity ratios

With the inlet diameter selected, the shaft speed is selected to limit the inducer tip speed to approximately 550 ft/sec. The tip speed limit is for controlling the tip vortex cavitation energy, which is a function of tip speed to the sixth power. The blade thickness must also increase with increased tip speeds to react the centrifugal and pressure loading. This reduces the flow passage area and, therefore, lowers the suction performance. The pump suction specific speed is expressed as:

This is a measure of the pump's ability to operate at low inlet head (NPSH) without cavitation (formation of vapor bubbles) sufficient to cause head loss. A 50% NPSH margin is generally selected during the design process for long-life rocket engine applications. Cavitation, in addition to decreasing the pump discharge pressure and efficiency due to the formation of vapor bubbles, can cause significant structural damage when the vapor bubbles collapse (implode), particularly with high-density fluids. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's inducer technology development has been a key state-ofthe art advancement for increasing the pump speed, decreasing the Suction performance improves over a 40 year period. turbopump weight and increasing the safe operating life. The double entry back-to-back pump was selected for the HPOTP in the SSME in order to increase the shaft speed by 2 and stay within the tip speed limit, while maintaining the required total inlet flow area. Required pump head, which is a function of the required discharge pressure, the available inlet pressure, and the propellant density [DH=(Pd - P in.) / r], is the major factor in selecting the pump configuration. The head coefficient (y=DH / U2 /g) is a function of the pump type and establishes the required pumping element diameter and number of stages to develop the required pump head for a given shaft speed. The main pumping element may be a centrifugal, mixed, or axial flow type.

A convenient parameter which reflects the difference in pump geometry characteristics is the specific speed which is a function of the shaft speed, volumetric flow, and required headrise: Low specific speed pumps are typically centrifugal with head coefficients (y) ranging from 0.4 to 0.7, which is a function of the impeller blade discharge angle. Intermediate specific speed pumps are typically mixed or axial flow with head coefficients, y, ranging from 0.4 to 0.2 per stage; and high specific speed pumps require only an inducer to generate the required head. The head requirements for high-density fluids such as RP-1 and LO2 can be generated with a single stage centrifugal pump, with the impeller diameter well within aluminum and nickel-base alloy steel structural limits. Head requirements for low-density fluids such as LH2 are very high and typically require several stages to develop. An axial flow main pumping element was selected for the J-2 LH2 pump because of its intermediate specific speed and narrow throttling range requirements. The 200,000-foot head requirement for the SSME HPFTP dictated a threestage centrifugal pump with the impellers operating at 2,000 ft/sec tip speed. Titanium, which has a higher strength- to-weight ratio than the high-strength nickel-base alloys, was required for the high tip speed. Optimizing the pump efficiency, which is a measure of the work-out/work-in, can also influence the shaft speed and specific speed selected. Maximum pump efficiency can generally be developed in the 2,000 to 3,000 specific speed range. Small flow rate pumps are generally less efficient than large flow rare pumps because the clearance and surface finish related losses cannot be scaled with size.

1. Engine design

As stated in the proposal, a preliminary engine design is to be carried first so that the subsequent steps of the project are provided by the necessary data such as the discharge head of each pump, propellants flow rate, .. .. .ect Regarding the engine, the design parameters which directly affect the pumping system design can be classified into tow types: (1) Parameters which are assumed by the designer. (2)Parameters which are obtained as results of design calculations. Table (1) below explains some parameters and working situations of each type : Assumed parameters Combustion chamber pressure Engine nozzle exit pressure Propellants Power cycle of the pumping system Calculated parameters Propellant flow rate as exhaust Mixture ratio Fuel flow rate Oxidizer flow rate

Table (1) some assumed and calculated parameters of the engine.

Each assumed parameter, working situation or whatever, will be discussed in the following sections and an assumption will be stated at the end of each section. 1.1 Combustion chamber pressure

Chamber pressures can range from about 7 to 250 atmospheres.(8) From equation (1.22) we see that high chamber temperature and pressure, and low exhaust gas molecular weight results in high ejection velocity, thus high thrust(8)

Although the engine performance improves much by increasing the combustion pressure (8,10) it is believed that after certain levels of pressure the improvement in the performance is insignificant. The trend of the curve of figure (1) refers to this fact.

Rockets can usually be throttled down to an exit pressure of about one-third of ambient pressure (often limited flow separation in nozzles) and up to a maximum limit determined only by the mechanical strength of the engine In practice, the degree to which rockets can be throttled varies greatly, but most rockets can be throttled by a factor of 2 without great difficulty; the typical limitation is combustion stability, as for example, injectors need a minimum pressure to avoid triggering damaging oscillations (chugging or combustion instabilities); but injectors can often be optimised and tested for wider ranges

(Rocket engine features and performance parameters affecting the

pumping system design:

Turbopumps are centrifugal pumps which are spun by gas turbines and are used to raise the propellant pressure above the pressure in the combustion chamber so that it can be injected and burnt. Turbopumps are very commonly used with rockets, but ramjets and turbojets also have been known to use them. The drive gases for the turbopump is usually generated in separate chambers with off-stochiometric combustion and the relatively small mass flow is dumped either through a special nozzle, or at a point in the main nozzle; both cause a small reduction in performance. In some cases (notably the Space Shuttle Main Engine) staged combustion is used, and the pump gas exhaust is returned into the main chamber where the combustion is completed and essentially no loss of performance due to pumping losses then occurs. Ramjet turbopumps use ram air expanding through a turbine.

14

Turbopump

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As the name suggests, a turbopump comprises basically two main components: a rotodynamic pump and a driving turbine, both mounted on the same shaft.

An axial turbopump designed and built for the M-1 rocket engine A turbopump can refer to either of two types of pumps: centrifugal, where the pumping is done by throwing fluid outward at high speed; or axial, where alternating rotating and static blades progressively raise the pressure of a fluid. Axial flow pumps have small diameters, and are used for this reason in duct jet engines, but give relatively modest pressure increases, and multiple compression stages are needed. Centrifugal pumps are far more powerful, but physically larger. Turbopumps operate in much the same way as turbo units for vehicles. Higher fuel pressures allow fuel to be supplied to higher-pressure combustion chambers for higher performance engines.

Contents

[hide] 1 History o 1.1 Early development o 1.2 Development from 1947 to 1949 2 Centrifugal turbopumps 3 Axial turbopumps 4 Complexities of centrifugal turbopumps 5 Driving Turbopumps 6 See also 7 External links

8 References

[edit] History
[edit] Early development
Turbopumps were originally developed for fire fighting (pumping water at high rates and pressures to put out fires). The initial breakthrough for turbopumps used in rocket motors occurred under Dr. Walter Thiel, during the development of the V2 in Germany. Prior to Dr. Thiel's work, pressurized tanks had been used. The early rocket turbopumps were slightly modified turbopumps originally intended for pumping water. Using turbopumps in rockets was a breakthrough; the power of the rocket motors was increased by an order of magnitude, making the lifting of heavy loads practical.

[edit] Development from 1947 to 1949

The principal engineer for turbopump development at Aerojet was George Bosco. During the second half of 1947, Bosco and his group learned about the pump work of others and made preliminary design studies. Aerojet representatives visited Ohio State University where Florant was working on hydrogen pumps, and consulted Dietrich Singelmann, a German pump expert at Wright Field. [51] Bosco subsequently used Singelmann's data in designing Aerojet's first hydrogen pump. By mid-1948, Aerojet had selected centrifugal pumps for both liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. They obtained some German radial-vane pumps from the Navy and tested them during the second half of the year. By the end of 1948, Aerojet had designed, built, and tested a liquid hydrogen pump (15 cm diameter). Initially, it used ball bearings that were run clean and dry, because the low temperature made conventional lubrication impractical. The pump was first operated at low speeds to allow its parts to cool down to operating temperature. When temperature gauges showed that liquid hydrogen had reached the pump, an attempt was made to accelerate from 5000 to 35 000 revolutions per minute. The pump failed and

examination of the pieces pointed to a failure of the bearing, as well as the impeller. After some testing, super-precision bearings, lubricated by oil that was atomized and directed by a stream of gaseous nitrogen, were used. On the next run, the bearings worked satisfactorily but the stresses were too great for the brazed impeller and it flew apart. A new one was made by milling from a solid block of aluminum. Time was running out, as the contract had less than six months to go. The next two runs with the new pump were a great disappointment; the instruments showed no significant flow or pressure rise. The problem was traced to the exit diffuser of the pump, which was too small and insufficiently cooled during the cool-down cycle so that it limited the flow. This was corrected by adding vent holes in the pump housing; the vents were opened during cool down and closed when the pump was cold. With this fix, two additional runs were made in March 1949 and both were successful. Flow rate and pressure were found to be in approximate agreement with theoretical predictions. The maximum pressure was 26 atmospheres and the flow was 0.25 kilogram per second. Today the Space Shuttle Main Engine's turbopumps spin at over 30,000 rpm, delivering 150 lb of liquid hydrogen and 896 lb of liquid oxygen to the engine per second.[1]

[edit] Centrifugal turbopumps

In centrifugal turbopumps a rotating disk throws the fluid to the rim Most turbopumps are centrifugal - the fluid enters the pump near the axis and the rotor accelerates the fluid to high speed. The fluid then passes through a diffuser which is a progressively enlarging pipe, which permits recovery of the dynamic pressure. The diffuser turns the high kinetic1 energy into high pressures (hundreds of bar is not uncommon), and if the outlet backpressure is not too high, high flow rates can be achieved.

[edit] Axial turbopumps

Axial compressors Axial turbopumps also exist - in this case the axle has essentially propellers attached to the shaft and the fluid is forced by these parallel with the main axis of the pump. Generally, axial pumps tend to give much lower pressures than centrifugal pumps, and a few bar is not uncommon. They are however still useful - axial pumps are commonly used as 'inducers' for centrifugal pumps, which raise the inlet pressure of the centrifugal pump enough to prevent excessive cavitation from occurring therein.

[edit] Complexities of centrifugal turbopumps

Turbopumps have a reputation for being extremely hard to design to get optimum performance. Whereas a well engineered and debugged pump can manage 70-90% efficiency, figures less than half that are not uncommon. Low efficiency may be acceptable in some applications, but in rocketry this is a severe problem. Turbopumps in rockets are important and problematic enough that launch vehicles using one have been caustically described as a 'turbopump with a rocket attached'- up to 55% of the total cost has been ascribed to this area. Common problems include: 1. excessive flow from the high pressure rim back to the low pressure inlet along the gap between the casing of the pump and the rotor 2. excessive recirculation of the fluid at inlet 3. excessive vortexing of the fluid as it leaves the casing of the pump In addition, the precise shape of the rotor itself is critical.

[edit] Driving Turbopumps

Steam turbine powered turbopumps do exist and are employed when there is a source of steam, e.g. the boilers of steam ships. Now gas turbines are usually used when electricity or steam is not available and place or weight restrictions permit the use of more-efficient sources of mechanical energy. One of such cases are rocket engines which need to pump fuel and oxidizer into their combustion chamber. This is necessary for large liquid rockets, since forcing the fluids or gases to flow by simple pressurizing of the tanks is often not feasible: The high pressure needed for the required flow rates would need strong and heavy tanks.

Ramjet motors are also usually fitted with turbopumps, the turbine being driven either directly by external freestream ram air or internally by airflow diverted from combustor entry. In both cases the turbine exhaust stream is dumped oeditTurboexpander

[edit] External links

Book of Rocket Propulsion

Turbopumps for Liquid Rocket Engines From Rocketdyne's Engineering Journal of Power Technology

[edit] References
1.
^ Hill, P & Peterson, C.(1992) Mechanics and Thermodynamics of Propulsion. New York: Addison-Wesley ISBN 0-201-14659-2

Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TurbopumpCategoriesTurbinesPumpsVacuum

13
The function of the rocket engine turbopump is to receive the liquid propellants from the vehicle tanks at low pressure and supply them to the combustion chamber at the required flow rate and injection pressure. The energy to power the turbine itself is provided by the expansion of high pressure gases, which are usually mixtures of the propellants being pumped.

The turbopump configuration is highly dependent on the engine cycle and the engine requirements for flow and pressure. Various turbopump configurations will be discussed at a conceptual design level, utilizing the disciplines involved in the design selection process, the "state of the art" of rotating machinery when each design took place, and the engine cycle requirements that influence the turbopump design

The type of engine cycle selected also influences the turbopump requirements and configuration. Generally, three types of engine cycles have been used in liquid rocket engines: the gas generator cycle, the staged combustion cycle and the expander cycle. The engine cycle terminology refers to the source of energy to drive the turbine. ther Engine Factors Other engine factors that significantly influence the turbopump configuration selection are the types of propellants, the propellant inlet conditions and the engine throttling requirements.

Typical propellants include RP-1, LH2, LO2, MMH, NTO, and other liquids with wide density ranges and temperatures. The variations in density produce significantly different pump head rise (pressure) requirements and large differences in volumetric flow, i.e., low density propellants require a much higher head rise to develop the same discharge pressure (head rise=pressure rise/density, DH=DP/p). The variations in the combined propellant available energy have a significant influence on the turbine design. The propellant inlet condition, which is expressed as the pump-inlet net positive suction pressure (NPSP=propellant inlet total pressure-propellant vapor pressure), dictates the pump's suction performance requirements, The pump suction performance requirement is its ability to operate at the available NPSP without detrimental cavitation. The engine throttling requirements define the range of flow and discharge pressure that the turbopump must deliver with stable operation. The engine start and shutdown characteristics must also be considered to prevent unstable turbopump operation due to cavitation or stall. Configuration Selection With the engine requirements established, the turbopump configuration is selected based on optimizing the pumps for each propellant, the turbine for the drive gas available energy, and the mechanical design arrangement for life, weight and producibility considerations. Pumps for engines with similar density fuel and oxidizer propellants such as RP-1/LOX and similar discharge pressure requirements will typically be optimum at approximately the same speed. This permits the fuel and oxidizer pumps to be placed on a common shaft and driven by a common turbine (Redstone, Atlas, RS-27, F-1, and XLR-132). Maximum pump speed is generally limited by the suction performance requirements to avoid cavitation. Optimum turbine efficiency requires a certain pitchline velocity which is a product of the shaft speed and the turbine diameter. The minimum weight turbine has the highest speed and smallest diameter within the structural and mechanical arrangement limitations Pumps Pump configuration is based on the requirements derived from the engine system. Inlet conditions (NPSP), discharge pressure, flow rate, and operating range must all be satisfied. A parametric analysis is performed to select the best speed, diameter and number of stages compatible with the turbine and mechanical design considerations. The pump inlet diameter is generally selected based on the available NPSP. Test experience has been accumulated on inducers to correlate their suction performance as a function of the NPSP (generally expressed as NPSH), the fluid inlet meridional velocity (Cm), and the inducer flow coefficient (f). The inducer diameter (inlet area) is selected to limit the fluid meridional velocity (Cm) so that the available NPSH/Cm2 /2g is equal to or greater than 3 velocity heads for water, 2 for LO2 and 1 for LH2 . Variation in the empirical limit accounts for the difference in thermodynamic suppression head between water, LO2 and LH2. As the available inlet pressure and NPSH are decreased, the inducer diameter must be increased in order to decrease the fluid velocity (cm) and maintain NPSH/cm2/2g equal to the velocity head limit. The limit is also a function of the inducer flow coefficient, which is defined as the meridional velocity divided by the inducer tip speed:

Turbine efficiency is shown as a function of blade velocity and gas spouting velocity ratios

With the inlet diameter selected, the shaft speed is selected to limit the inducer tip speed to approximately 550 ft/sec. The tip speed limit is for controlling the tip vortex cavitation energy, which is a function of tip speed to the sixth power. The blade thickness must also increase with increased tip speeds to react the centrifugal and pressure loading. This reduces the flow passage area and, therefore, lowers the suction performance. The pump suction specific speed is expressed as:

This is a measure of the pump's ability to operate at low inlet head (NPSH) without cavitation (formation of vapor bubbles) sufficient to cause head loss. A 50% NPSH margin is generally selected during the design process for long-life rocket engine applications. Cavitation, in addition to decreasing the pump discharge pressure and efficiency due to the formation of vapor bubbles, can cause significant structural damage when the vapor bubbles collapse (implode), particularly with high-density fluids. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's inducer technology development has been a key state-of-the art advancement for increasing the pump speed, decreasing the turbopump weight and increasing the safe operating life. The double entry back-to-back pump was selected for the HPOTP in the SSME in order to increase the shaft speed by 2 and stay within the tip speed limit, while maintaining the required total inlet flow area.

Required pump head, which is a function of the required discharge pressure, the available inlet pressure, and the propellant density [DH=(Pd - P in.) / r], is the major factor in selecting the pump configuration. The head coefficient (y=DH / U2 /g) is a

Suction performance improves over a 40 year period. function of the pump type and establishes the required pumping element diameter and number of stages to develop the required pump head for a given shaft speed. The main pumping element may be a centrifugal, mixed, or axial flow type. A convenient parameter which reflects the difference in pump geometry characteristics is the specific speed which is a function of the shaft speed, volumetric flow, and required headrise: Low specific speed pumps are typically centrifugal with head coefficients (y) ranging from 0.4 to 0.7, which is a function of the impeller blade discharge angle. Intermediate specific speed pumps are typically mixed or axial flow with head coefficients, y, ranging from 0.4 to 0.2 per stage; and high specific speed pumps require only an inducer to generate the required head. The head requirements for high-density fluids such as RP-1 and LO2 can be generated with a single stage centrifugal pump, with the impeller diameter well within aluminum and nickel-base alloy steel structural limits. Head requirements for low-density fluids such as LH2 are very high and typically require several stages to develop. An axial flow main pumping element was selected for the J-2 LH2 pump because of its intermediate specific speed and narrow throttling range requirements. The 200,000-foot head requirement for the SSME HPFTP dictated a three-stage centrifugal pump with the impellers operating at 2,000 ft/sec tip speed. Titanium, which has a higher strength- to-weight ratio than the high-strength nickel-base alloys, was required for the high tip speed. Optimizing the pump efficiency, which is a measure of the work-out/work-in, can also influence the shaft speed and specific speed selected. Maximum pump efficiency can generally be developed in the 2,000 to 3,000 specific speed range. Small flow rate pumps are generally less efficient than large flow rare pumps because the clearance and surface finish related losses cannot be scaled with size.

Turbines The turbine must supply the required power to drive the pump utilizing the drive gas provided by the selected engine cycle. Overall performance of the turbine depends upon three variables: the

available energy content per pound of drive gas, the blade tangential velocity (U), and the number of turbine stages. The available energy for the turbine pressure ratio can be expressed as an ideal velocity, C. The turbine velocity ratio, U / C, is used to empirically characterize these two variables versus the turbine efficiency. The ideal velocity can be distributed between the turbine stages with either a pressurecompounded or velocity-compounded design. The major difference between these two turbine designs is where expansion occurs in the stationary blade rows. For the velocity-compounded turbine, all the expansion occurs in the first stationary blade row, while for a pressure compounded turbine, the expansion is distributed between the stationary blade rows. For high U/C designs, the turbine efficiency can be further improved by having some of the expansion (reaction) take place in the rotor blades. The design selection is made to maximize the turbine efficiency and minimize the weight compatible with the selected shaft speed. In general, when a direct drive turbopump configuration is selected, the shaft speed is less than optimum for the turbine and additional stages must be added to utilize the available energy. Blade tip diameter is selected to optimize the U/C for efficiency within the blade height-todiameter performance limits and within the tip speed structural limits. If the blade height- todiameter ratio gets too small, the tip clearance and secondary flow losses become large, decreasing the turbine efficiency. The tip speed structural limit is based on the centrifugal pull that can be carried at the base of the blade airfoil for the selected material and is generally expressed as allowable annulus area x N2 versus temperature. Partial admission turbines are selected when the shaft speed is too slow and the blade height-to-diameter ratio becomes too small to obtain the desired U/C. The blade diameter is increased to increase U and the arc of admission is decreased to maintain the blade height at an acceptable height-to-diameter ratio.

Turbin e

Fuel pmup

Ox pump