Combustion tap-off cycle
The combustion tap-off cycle is a power cycle of a
bipropellant rocket engine. The cycle takes a small portion of hot exhaust gas from the rocket engine's combustion chamber and routes it through turbopump turbines to pump fuel before being exhausted (similar to the gas-generator cycle). Since fuel is exhausted, the tap-off cycle is considered an open-cycle engine. The cycle is comparable to a gas-generator cycle engine with turbines driven by main combustion chamber exhaust rather than a separate gas generator or preburner.[1]
The J-2S rocket engine, a cancelled engine developed by NASA, used the combustion tap-off cycle and was first successfully tested in 1969.[2]
By 2013,
BE-3U, uses an expander cycle to power the turbopump, and will be used on the upper stage of the New Glenn launch vehicle.[4]
The Reaver 1 engine in Firefly Alpha uses a tap-off cycle.[5] It first flew in September 2021[6] then made it to orbit on its second attempt in October 2022.[7]
See also
- Expander cycle
- Pressure-fed engine
- Rocket engine
- Staged combustion cycle
- Gas-generator cycle
References
- ISBN 978-1563476495.
- ^ "Altitude Developmental Testing of the J-2S Rocket Engine" (PDF). Defense Technical Information Center. Defense Technical Information Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 16, 2017.
- ^ Norris, Guy (9 December 2013). "Blue Origin Tests New Engine". Aviation Week & Space Technology. Penton. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
- ^ BE-3 test update, Blue Origin, 10 August 2018, accessed 15 August 2018].
- ^ "Tour Firefly Aerospace's Factory and Test Site With Their CEO, Tom Markusic". Retrieved 12 October 2021.
- NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
- NASASpaceFlight.
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