Module 3

Rocket Propulsion

Prepared by
Dr. Kankan Kishore Pathak
Assistant Professor, ME Department, GIMT Guwahati
The pressure-fed engine is a
class of rocket engine
designs. A separate gas
supply, usually
helium, pressurizes the
propellant tanks to force
fuel and oxidizer to the
combustion chamber. To
maintain adequate flow, the
tank pressures must exceed
the combustion chamber
pressure.
 Hybrid-propellant rocket
• A hybrid-propellant rocket is a rocket with a rocket motor that
uses rocket propellants in two different phases: one solid and the
other either gas or liquid. The hybrid rocket concept can be traced
back to at least the 1930s.
• Hybrid rockets avoid some of the disadvantages of solid rockets like
the dangers of propellant handling, while also avoiding some
disadvantages of liquid rockets like their mechanical complexity.
Because it is difficult for the fuel and oxidizer to be mixed
intimately (being different states of matter), hybrid rockets tend to
fail more benignly than liquids or solids. Like liquid rocket engines,
hybrid rocket motors can be shut down easily and the thrust is
throttleable. The theoretical specific impulse performance of hybrids
is generally higher than solid motors and lower than liquid engines
as high as 400 s has been measured in a hybrid rocket using
metalized fuels.
• Hybrid systems are more complex than solid ones, but they
avoid significant hazards of manufacturing, shipping and handling
solid rocket motors by storing the oxidizer and the fuel separately.