• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.108-114
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• 2018

In this study, the thermal and rheological characteristics of a 10 wt.% addition of aluminum particles and the effect of the particle size were investigated to qualitatively analyze the paraffin fuel entrainment regression rate. The results revealed that the addition of aluminum particles and their relative particle size affected the rheological characteristics, rather than the thermal characteristics. Moreover, it was found that the variation of thermal properties had a minor effect on the entrainment regression rate, in comparison to the variation in rheological properties.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.11-19
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• 2018

Viscosity measurements were conducted to investigate the rheological characteristics of aluminized paraffin wax fuel. To identify the effect of size and contents of the aluminum particles on the variation of viscosity, samples of nano- and micro- sized aluminum particles with an average particle size of 100 nm and $8{\mu}m$ were prepared and measured using a rheometer. The observed viscosity increment patterns of the nano- and micro-sized particles were vey different, and particularly above 10 wt%, where a relatively low overall regression rate is expected for nano- content fuel. It is possible that this phenomenon could cause the reduced entrainment regression rate.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.49 no.7
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• pp.573-580
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• 2021

Paraffin wax is attracting many attentions for promising solid fuel of hybrid rocket because of its higher regression than other fuels. However, even with paraffin fuel combustion, unsteady low-frequency oscillation of combustion pressure is still observed. And, this is related to the formation of liquid layer and the entrainment of fuel droplets entering the axial combustion gas flow. This study investigates the effect of additional combustion of fuel droplets on the occurrence of low-frequency combustion instability. On the other hand, the formation of fuel droplets depends on Weber Number (the ratio of the inertial force to the surface tension of the liquid) and Reynolds Number of the oxidizer flow. Therefore, a laboratory-scale hybrid rocket was used to monitor the occurrence of combustion instability while changing We number. A series of combustion tests were conducted to control We number by changing the oxidizer flow rate or adding LDPE (low density polyethylene) to base fuel. In the results, it was confirmed that there is a critical We number above which the low-frequency combustion instability occurs.