A kerosene-fueled X-33 as a single stage to orbit vehicle.
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From: Robert Clark on 21 Dec 2009 06:06 On Dec 20, 8:34 pm, BradGuth <bradg...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Why not stick with H2O2 and propargyl alcohol, or H2O2 and > cyclopropane? > > ~ BG I had a debate with you a few months ago about which should be the propellant to use for a single stage to orbit vehicle. I argued it should be hydrogen/LOX because that gave the highest Isp and therefore the lowest propellant mass. I also argued that both the DC-X demonstrator and the proposed VentureStar vehicles used hydrogen fuel. However, I now realize Isp is not the only key variable. There are other variables that can overwhelm the Isp advantage of hydrogen/LOX. Then propellant combinations with dense fuels and/or oxidizers, including H2O2, may indeed be better suited for a SSTO vehicle. Here's one report that discusses using H2O2 as the oxidizer for a SSTO: A Single Stage to Orbit Rocket with Non-Cryogenic Propellants. Abstract "Different propellant combinations for single-stage-to-orbit-rocket applications were compared to oxygen/hydrogen, including nitrogen tetroxide/hydrazine, oxygen/methane, oxygen/propane, oxygen/RP-1, solid core nuclear/hydrogen, and hydrogen peroxide/JP-5. Results show that hydrogen peroxide and JP-5, which have a specific impulse of 328 s in vacuum and a density of 1,330 kg/cu m. This high-density jet fuel offers 1.79 times the payload specific energy of oxygen and hydrogen. By catalytically decomposing the hydrogen peroxide to steam and oxygen before injection into the thrust chamber, the JP-5 can be injected as a liquid into a high-temperature gas flow. This would yield superior combustion stability and permit easy throttling of the engine by adjusting the amount of JP-5 in the mixture. It is concluded that development of modern hydrogen peroxide/JP-5 engines, combined with modern structural technology, could lead to a simple, robust, and versatile single-stage-to-orbit capability." http://www.erps.org/docs/SSTORwNCP.pdf [full text] Bob Clark |