Design & analysis and development of turbine system for hybrid rocket applications

Most hybrid rocket applications utilize high-pressure tanks to transfer their oxidizer into the combustion chamber. These applications are called pressure–fed and are considered the most straightforward technique for pressurizing oxidizer tanks. On the other hand, more complex systems such as liquid rocket engines employ a turbopump assembly to increase the pressure of the oxidizer and feed the combustion chamber of the launch vehicle. Although turbopump assembly adds more weight to the launch vehicle and brings mechanical complexity, the reduction in high pressure and oxidizer tanks' masses increases the launch vehicle's performance. Moreover, turbopumps deliver oxidizer at a constant mass flow rate and pressure. It is another advantage of using turbopumps in hybrid rockets since pressure-fed rockets suffer from "blowdown" phenomenon between high pressure and oxidizer tank. Within the scope of this thesis, a turbine for turbopump assembly is designed. Designed turbine systems for different scales are analysed in CFD software for further improvement. Additionally, hybrid rocket fundamentals and motor design parameters are introduced. Finally, the developed system is tested with water and liquid oxygen to validate meridional and CFD analysis. Performance analysis and obtained results clearly show that the usage of turbopumps in a hybrid rocket system improves the overall performance of hybrid rocket launch vehicles even though additional weights are added to the launch system.