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AlAA 95-3003
R. Starke
Aerojet Propulsion System Plant
Sacramento, CA
L+&uixt Introduction
Development of low cost transportation of payloads The RD-0120 was developed as the main propulsion
to orbit has become a national priority in both the engine for the Energia heavy-lift launch vehicle. It
United States and Russia. Governments and launch operates on oxygen-hydrogen propellants and provides
vehicle contractors are currently proceeding to a nominal thrust of 200 metric tons (441,000 pounds)
demonstrate and develop the critical features of these and a specific impulse of 455 seconds under vacuum
future low cost launch vehicles. Two of the key conditions. Under a typical flight profile it is ignited at
characteristics for successful low cost launch vehicle sea level and operates continuously until orbit is
operation are the reusability and operability of the reached. The RD-0120 has flown twice on the Energia
rocket engines. Because of its high performance and launch vehicle. It completed extensive qualification
advanced analytically and experimentally based testing, with more than 163,000 seconds of testing
reusability, the RD-0120 liquid oxygenhydrogen accumulated on more than 90 engines prior to the first
engine, designed and manufactured by the Chemical flight, and has a demonstrated reliability of 0.992 at
4 Automatics Design Bureau (CADB), is one of the key 90% confidence'.
candidates for this engine selection. This high pressure This paper discusses the characteristics of the RD-
(3170 psia chamber pressure), high performance (455.5 0120 which make it an ideal basis for development of
Ibf-secflbm vacuum delivered Isp, 441,000 Ibf vacuum RLV propulsion, and offers areas for future
thrust) staged combustion engine has had complete enhancement of the engine to evolve it's capabilities for
success on both flights of the Energia heavy lift launch higher-performancemissions.
vehicle. During development, the engine demonstrated
the characteristics of long life, power margin, throttling, As it exists today, the engine already incorporates
and endurance that are required for low cost, reliable, many of the high-priority capabilities necesary for the
reusable propulsion systems. The bipropellant RD- Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) application. For
0120 engine can also be readily converted to a reliable, vehicles which capitalize on uipropellant operation for
low cost tripropellant engine by replacement of the boost-mode thrust the RD-0120 also provides an ideal
fuel-rich preburner and addition of a kerosene basis for cost-effective development of a dual-mode
turbopump. An international program to demonstrate tripropellant-bipropellantengine.
the highly operable and reusable features of the Evolution of the RD-0120's operating characteristics
bipropellant engine, along with the critical design for RLV involves enhancement of existing capabilities.
features of the potential tripropellant engine, for Individual developments to enhance specific
reusable launch vehicle (RLV) and single-stage-to-orbit characteristics can be accomplished separately. The
(SSTO) applications is underway as a cooperative resulting capabilities can be added one-by-one to the
venture between Aerojet, CADB, and the NASA engine to provide incremental improvements as
Marshall Space Flight Center. This paper describes the determined by X-33 and RLV program schedules and
impressive operability and reusability of the existing available funding.
RD-0120 engine, and how further developments will Existine RD-0120 characteristics anulicable to RLVs
improve them even more, making the RD-0120 engine
an ideal candidate for development of the RLV Low Onerations Costs
propulsion. In addition, the approach used for Labor, equipment, and facilities for initial launch
development of the tripropellant RD-0120 engine is preparation and recycling between flights are a major
outlined, leading to a high confidence flight factor in the life cycle cost of any reusable vehicle.
,-' demonstrator vehicle.
2
short fabrication cycle also benefits RLV operations, manifolding, for feeding the tripropcllant elements, and
allowing rapid development and evaluation of to propellant line interfaces for kerosene and hydrogen.
W improvements and insertion of these into the production Hieh Performance
line.
Reference 3 describes the inherently more efficicnt
Oneratine Flexibility
process of driving the engine turbomachimery with
The RD-0120 has the capability to operate over a fuel-rich gas than with oxidizer-rich gas. The resultant
wide range of chamber pressures and mixture ratios, as advantages in terms of lower turbine temperatures and
shown in Figure 6, and has a built-in capability to increased life are illustrated in Figure 9. To produce
accommodate optimization of parameters for various the same main combustion chamber pressure the
vehicles and missions. Electromagnetic actuators on oxidizer-rich cycle must run 360'R hotter than the fuel-
the oxidizer control valves to the main chamber and rich cycle.
prebumer allow real-time adjustment of engine mixture The dramatic decrease in engine life due to the higher
ratio and thrust. This provides throttling to tailor flight temperature can be seen in Figure 10. It is essential
profiles, and allows simultaneous depletion of vehicle when making life comparisons between cycles to
fuel and oxidizer tanks to minimize residual propellants carefully define equivalent conditionsfor both. For
carried to orbit. The nominal operating point of the example, the RD-0120's maximum allowable turbine
engine can be shifted to any point within the temperature is 1654% and this is the value used for
"requirement" box in Figure 6 (however the engine was life correlations. Nominal turbine temperature is
qualified to the larger "guarantee" box shown). 1440'R to account, as all engines must, for variations in
RD-0120 As Basis Of Trinrouellant Eneine engine inlet conditions and in unit-to-unit
Low-Cost Develooment characteristics. The lower limit for nominal conditions
also accommodates throttling and mixture ratio
The RD-0120's fuel-rich staged combustion power adjustments which are part of the normal flight profile
cycle provides an ideal basis for rapid and low-cost of the Energia vehicle.
development of a tripropellant hydrogen-oxygen- Low Develonment Risk
kerosene engine. Most of the existing bipropellant
engine hardware can be incorporated directly into the Risk for the tripropellant engine is minimized by an
new tripropellant engine, with no changes whatever to approach which emphasizes a step-by-step addition of
approximately 80% of the flight-qualified component capabilities. Development of the tripropellant
designs. A comparison of the bipropellant and prcburner is already in an advanced stage. As reported
tripropellant schematics in Figure 7 illustrates the high in Reference 4, tripropellant ignition, and fuel-rich
degree of commonality. The main turbpump, boost combustion without any production of carbon particles
pumps, thrust chamber assembly, and most valves and in the exhaust or coking in any of the manifolds or
lines can be used as-is. New components include a coolant channels, are well understood and have been
tripropellant preburner, kerosene turbopump, and optimized via an extensive unielement preburner test
additional valves and lines. Operating characteristics of program. Verification testing of parameters in 8-
a tripropellant engine with minimal changes from the element subscale preburners and in full scale preburners
existing bipropellant RD-0120 are summarized in is currently in preparation and will begin next month.
Table 1. With more optimization, characteristics such Later this year hot fire testing of the tripropellant
as those listed in Table 2 can be obtained. engine is scheduled to begin. An RD-0120 being
Of the new components only the tripropellant modified for this purpose is pictured in Figure 11. In
preburner is a principally new development, all of the this first step the tripropellant prebumer and associated
others being straightforward adaptations of existing controls will be installed, and kerosene will be supplied
designs. This would not be the case for a development by high-pressure facility tanks. Following
based on oxygenkerosene engines which use an demonstration of operating characteristics and
oxidizer-rich cycle. Changes to the oxidizer-rich performance with this engine a second RD-0120 will be
engine would include complex development of major modified in the same manner, plus a kerosene
components such as a hydrogen turbopump. It would turbopump will be added. The kerosene turbopump is
also require development of a tripropellant injector and taken from other rocket systems developed by CADB.
hydrogen-cooled main combustion chamber. By RLV Develoument Issues To Resolove
comparison, development based on fuel-rich technology
will be simpler, quicker, and lower in cost and risk. RLV is reaching for new levels of engine
performance and affordability. SSTO flight profiles
The tripropellant preburner, shown in Figure 8, is require high liftoff thrust-to-weight and high mission-
itself an evolution of the RD-0120 design. It retains the average specific impulse. Economic viability demands
same envelope, general configuration, and interface low per-flight costs. The existing RD-0120 is capable
e with the main turbine housing of the bipropellant of flying SSTO missions, but further evolution of the
preburner. Some changes are incorporated to the
3
engine is possible to reduce life cycle costs and main engine. The nozzle program discussed above is a
improve the bottom line for RLV. large contributor towards reaching the RLV
L/ Programs are in place now to address the pertinent requirement, a synergistic effect of the higher sea level
issues and accomplish these advancements. The X-33 thrust available from the altitude compensating design
Phase I program (Main Engine Propulsion, Reusable and of the lower wcight.
Launch Vehicle Advanced Technology Demonstrator Additional weight reductions are necessary however,
X-33) is in the process of defining specific design first for X-33 flight tests and then for RLV. For the
solutions for engine weight reduction, longer life, and near-term X-33 program, weight reductions will of
lower operations costs. The first target is to provide necessity concentrate on the more-easily implemented
moderate improvements for the near-term X-33 flight solutions. These are anticipated to include changes in
test vehicle. The long-term goal is to achieve really the size, configuration, and materials of the propellant
significant advances for RLV. Table 3 illustrates the inlet ducts, The current inlet ducts are relatively
progression in capabilities from today's RD-0120 to the massive, and modifications offer the possibility of
RD-0120 of the future. The NASA Cooperative significant improvements without disturbing the
Agreement NCC8-44 program is working in parallel, arrangement or functioning of the engine. Removal of
leading the way in implementing the technologies external insulation on hot and cold ducts is another
which will enable RLV to meet the long-term goals. relatively high-payoff modification with little impact on
Figure 12 is a roadmap which depicts the the overall engine. The currently-installed insulation
interrelationships between these programs. and shows does not affect operation of the RD-0120 but was
the path to RLV readiness. mandated due to an Energia-specific requirement for
Nozzle ImDrovements thermal environments in the engine compartment.
Altitude compensation and low weight are high The longer-term, more-intrusive weight reduction
priority needs for the RLV main engine. NCC8-44 is possibilities for RLV will be identified during the X-33
addressing both of these needs. Phase I program. The studies will evaluate options for
weight reductions and trade cost, schedule, and risk to
Initial efforts will use CFD modeling and cold flow optimize the solutions for RLV. These factors will
characterizations to assess mission performance for determine the effectivess and feasibility of changes
candidate nozzle concepts. Because the performance which span the range from moderate developments,
differences between concepts such as extendable, dual- such as shifting to higher-strength materials for certain
4 throat, dual-profile, etc. are small, it is important to components, to major revisions such as changes in the
examine them as a group, using the same modeling engine power cycle from conventional staged
techniques and the same test facilities and methods. combustion to single- or dual-augmented.
This will avoid uncertainties and allow clear
comparisons, selection, and optimization of the design. a
Since low weight and reasonable cost are also key The impressive life of the serial production RD-0120
issues, the studies will address potential variants of was discussed at the beginning of this paper. As shown
metallic and nonmetallic materials for the concepts, .in Figure 2, the usable suuctural life of the engine is
their mass characteristics, and technical feasibility in strongly linked to thermal cycles and low cycle fatigue,
terms of thermal effects and structural capabilities. but only weakly connected to cumulative duration and
Producibility, development and production schedules, high cycle fatigue. Therefore, relatively simple
costs, and other programmatic concerns will be modifications to improve the structural characteristics
assessed. of a few areas susceptible to low cycle fatigue can
dramatically increase the cycle life of the engine. The
The results of the studies and tests will be combined first of these, to slightly blunt the trailing edges of the
to select a nozzle concept and specific design main turbine blades, provides a huge payoff,
parameters for further verification. Performance multiplying the life of the standard engine by a factor of
charateristics and design environments of thc selected four. If changes to the turbine blades shroud are added
concept will be validated in subscale hot fire tests. At at the same time, the life is improved by a factor of over
the same time, manufacturing development for the full thirteen - to approximately 80 cycles.
scale nozzle will be initiated, to work out fabrication
processes, tooling, and inspection methods. The Further improvements in the engine life are feasible,
culmination of this activity will be fabrication of a full- again with relatively simple redesigns - of main
scale article for hot fire testing on an RD-0120 engine chamber cooling extend life to 100 cycles, and of
from the X-33 Phase I1 flight test program. turbine nozzle vanes to push the life to 150-200 cycles.
It quickly becomes obvious that the designed-in
Weieht Reduction robustness of the RD-0120 makes the RLV goal of
As indicated in Table 3, high thrust-to-weight at sea amortizing the purchase price of the engine over an
.-/ level is an absolutely essential feature for the RLV extremely large number of flights not only achievable
but practical.
4
Controls And Health Monitoring procedures for assessment and analysis of this data,
As discussed earlier in this paper, a big factor in the comparison to acceptable limits, and decision-making
-
economic viability of RLV is the practical regarding engine health will be documented and coded
implementation of low-cost operations. For the
as the next step in automating the processes for future
application to low-cost operations for RLV.
engines, this puts a high value on flight reliability,
quick turnaround with a minimum of scheduled Conclusions
maintenance, long life between overhauls, and efficient The RD-0120 is a robust, proven propulsion system.
diagnosis and repair of defects. Its original development focus on life and on simple,
Modem computerized control systems can enable low-cost operations deliver impressive capabilities
many of these key cost-saving features. Reliable today and provide an ideal basis for evolution to the
information on the condition of the engine is vital to the future RLV. The fuel-rich power cycle allows
whole concept of understanding its state of health and straightfonvard adaptation to tripropellant operation
making decisions on maintenance actions and flight without major development risk. Ongoing programs
readiness. In the ideal scenario, each engine would be will develop many of the enhancements to existing RD-
used up to the point where a failure would happen 0120 capabilities that will allow RLV to meet its
during the next use, but a monitoring system would technical and cost goals.
detect and track the degradation, triggering timely References
repair or replacement of the engine. An important goal
here is to never fly an engine that is in a bad state of 1. Rachuk, V.S., Gontcharov, N.S., Martynyenko,
health, but also to avoid unnecesary labor by only Y.A., and Sciorelli, F.A., Design, Development,
performing maintenance when indicated by a measured and History of the Oxygen/Hydrogen Engine RD-
condition, rather than because some specified interval 0120, AIAA Paper No. 95-2540, July 1995.
of time has elapsed.
2. Rudis, M., Orlov, V., Rachuk, V., Nikitin, L.. and
Control system automation can also contribute to Campbell, W.E., A Universal Methodology for
reductions in both the labor hours and skill levels Predicting Liquid Rocket Engine Durability
required for preflight checkout and postflight
inspections. Even more potential for cost savings is Based on Russian RD-0120 Engine Operating
offered by semi-automating the process of evaluating Experience, AIAA Paper No. 95-2963, July
flight data and inspection results, and comparing these 1995.
with log book data, maintenance records, and data from 3. Rachuk, V., Orlov, V., Gontcharov, N., and
previous flights to arrive at conclusions about new Fanciullo, T.J., The Low Risk Development of a
maintenance actions and readiness for reflight. Fuel-Rich Preburner Tripropellant Engine Using
Sophisticated control laws and safety sytem the RD-0120 Engine, AIAA Paper No. 94-9465,
algorithms have been developed and proven for the RD- September 1994.
0120. Their effectiveness is evidenced by the engines
high demonsfrated reliability and perfect flight record. 4. Turtushov, V.A., Orlov, V.A., Yefremov, Y.A.,
At present, however, there is no engine-mounted Gontcharov, N.S., Hulka, I., and Dexter, C.,
control system, and implementation of engine control is Development Status of a Soot-Free Fuel-Rich
provided by Energia vehicle avionics. Kerosene Tripropellant Preburner for Reusable
For RLV an autonomous engine control system will Liquid Rocket Engine Applications, AIAA Paper
permit independent development of the vehicle No. 95-3002, July 1995.
systems, and avoid conflicting schedules, requirements,
and priorities. The NCC8-44 program will initiate this
effort by providing a rack-mounted control system for
RD-0120 testing at a US facility to document key
operations costs characteristics. The first step will be to
code the existing engine control laws and safety system
algorithms, and use these to operate the engine during
the tests. With software programmability rapid re-
configuration and optimization of operating modes can
be accomplished to reduce development testing
timelines.
Subsequent efforts will be directed towards
establishing a data base of RD-0120 development and
acceptance test data, maintenance data, checkout and
d inspection results, and flight test data. Current manual
5
- Electrical .
Inspection
External
Visual -
Inspection -
-
Thermal/
Vacuum -
Internal
Visual -
Drying Inspection
External
Leak Check - 2 People
28 Hours
Internal &
Pneumatic Valve
External
Flow Check Checks
* 2 People
* 10 Hours
* 4 People
1 Hour
-
Leak Check
2 People
*It? Hour
10 100 1000
Number of Cycles
10000
450
440
430
D
g 420
50 410
2 400
- 390
j 380
u)
2 370
360
350
340
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100110120130140150
Altitude, ft (Thousands)
Nozzle Insert
I ---- Nozzle w/o Insert -Nozzle with Insert I Release Mechanisms
Figure 3. RD-0120 Nozzle Insert Provides High Takeoff Thrust and High Vacuum Performance
6
... .
....
.... .
/Guarantee
,Vehlele Requirement
..
'1
(With Nozzle Insert), sec
Turbine Nozzles Propellant Composition, %
Hydrogen 8.9 14.3
l i n i e t Housing
Kerosene 11.1 -
Turbopump Assembly
& Acceptance Testing 0 Oxygen
Main Chamber Pressure, psia
80.0
281 1
85.7
11x0
Engine Assembly &
Mixture Ratio 4.0 6.0
Acceptance Testing
Turbine Inlet Tempcralurc, OR 1440 1440
Total Mass Flow, Ibm/scc 971.52 364.1
Hydrogen 86.17 52.01
Figure 5. Two-Year Production Cycle of the RD-0120 Kerosene 108.22 -
Provides Flexibility for Development and Oxygen 777.13 312.08
Production Programs Nozzle Area Ratio 85.7:l 85.7:l
7
'd
~/,/,/,/,/,//e,Lj b
Figure 7. Tripropellant Engine Schematic Illustrates Commonalty With the RD-0120
Hydrogen
A-50 atm
A200"K
8
L J
Table 2. More Extension RD-0120 ModificationsYield
an Optimized Tripropellant Engine
Mode I Mode 2
OWntinRPanmelers 5uses 25uses suscs 25user
T ~ s I Vacuum.
. klbi 449.616 449.616 178,524 178.524
Thrust- Sea-Level, klbf 354.844 354.844 - -
Thnc\t-Sea-Level(Wi!hNozzlc 393.167 393.167 - -
Inren).klbf
S w i f i c Impulsc- Vacuum.iec 411.5 408.7 458.8 455.7
Spacliic ImpulSe - Sea-Level. iec 325.0 322.7 . -
speeifie hnpllse -Sea-Level 360.1 357.6 - -
.,....w
W i t h Nw.7lr Inwrtl
I
Propellant Composition, %
HYdr0gC " 6.0 6.0 14.3 14.3
KeTOreX 12.6 12.6 . .
oxygen 81.4 81.4 85.7 85.7 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Main Chamber Ressurc. p i a 3550 3550 1450 1450
Mixwe Ratio 4.376 4.376 6.0 6.0 Number of Cycles
Turbine Inlel Tccmperature. "R 1410 1440 1440 1440
T a d M a s Row. lbmisec 1092.52 1100.0 389.0 391.65
Hydrogen 65.45 65.90 55.54 55.98 Figure 10. Turbine Temperature Has a Dramatic Effect
Kerorenc 137.75 137.75 - - on Engine Life
Oxygen 889.48 895.48 333.46 335.67
hlozzle Alw Ratio 1Ol.Ul lW.7:I 1W.01 100.7:l
4
Table 3. RLV Requirements Illustrate the Progression
in RD-0120 Capabilities
-
)-012(
-
x-33 RLV
__
Cycle Life (Between Overhauls) 10 25
Overhauls Permitted 4 4
9
Tripropellant 1-Preburner DDR
Technology -RD-O120TD PDR
Packaging: .-Preburner Tests
i
Task 3 I Task 7-OperabilityEnhancement Electronics
I
h
Task 8- Task 9-
Life Extension1 Operability
RD-0120
Operability Enhancement
Engine
Tests: Benchmarking Evaluation
.
; RLV Prototype
x-33 * EngineTrades j h Test Program _1, Engine Program
Program (Phase 1) (Phase 2)
(ref. only) . - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - - . . _ _ _ I . - - - _ _ _ _ _ _ - - - - - - _ _ I .____________
FY95 FY96 -97 FY98 N99
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