• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.391-397
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• 2010

Performance tests of a liquid-oxygen pump were carried out using liquid nitrogen (LN2) as a working fluid in a cryogenic turbopump test facility in Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). The tests were performed at 30-55% of the design rotational speed, and the results were compared with those from a water test. The experimental results confirmed the similarity of the hydraulic performance, which allows the prediction of the pump performance at a design rotational speed of 20,000 rpm. The overall cavitation performance of the pump in the cryogenic environment was better than that in the water environment for all ranges of flow rates and rotational speeds. Critical cavitation number at the design flow rate was determined as 0.012 from the cryogenic test, and as 0.024 from the water test. The improved cavitation performance is due to the thermodynamic effect in cryogenic fluids.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.20-26
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• 2009

Turbopump test for a 30-ton-thrust liquid rocket engine was carried out using real-propellant. Liquid oxygen, kerosene, cold hydrogen gas were used for the oxidizer pump, the fuel pump, and the turbine, respectively. The turbopump was reliably operated at the design and off-design conditions and the performance requirements were satisfied, which implies that the turbopump development at the engine subsystem level is successfully accomplished in the point of performance validation. This paper presents the results of a test where the turbopump was run for 75 seconds at three operating modes. In terms of performance characteristics of pumps and turbine, the results of turbopump assembly test using real-propellant showed a good agreement with those of the turbopump component tests using simulant working fluid.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.359-365
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• 2008

Turbopump test for a 30-ton-thrust liquid rocket engine was carried out using real-propellant. Liquid oxygen, kerosene, cold hydrogen gas were used for the oxidizer pump, the fuel pump, the turbine, respectively. The turbopump was run stably at the design and off-design conditions and the performance requirements were satisfied, which implies that the turbopump development at the engine subsystem level is successfully accomplished in the point of performance validation. This paper presents the results of a test where the turbopump was run for 75 seconds at three operating modes. In terms of performance characteristics of pumps and turbine, the results from turbopump assembly test using real-propellant showed a good agreement with those from the turbopump component tests using simulant working fluid.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.322-328
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• 2010

An inter-propellant seal (IPS) for 75 ton class thrust turbopump was tested. Leakage characteristics were presented with a given range of pressure difference under cryogenic as well as room temperature conditions. For cryogenic tests, liquid nitrogen was used as analogic fluid of liquid oxygen (LOX) while water was used instead of kerosene for room temperature condition. Test results showed that IPS had satisfactory leakage performance. Additionally endurance test was conducted to prove the life time of manufactured IPS and the tested IPS had successfully survived during required life time, 2100 seconds.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.73-78
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• 2008

The development of turbopump in Korea has been practically started from 1999. Recently, the turbopump for a LRE with 30-ton level thrust has been successfully developed, which is able to work for all the required LRE regimes. This success is considered as a breakthrough in development of LRE because the turbopump, a core component of LREs, has been considered as a critical barrier in domestic technology point of view. In this paper, status of the turbopump development in Korea is provided and some suggestions are made for the prospective future.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.375-383
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• 2005

The present paper describes the first development of a LOX/kerosene type turbopump in Korea. The liquid rocket engine, that the turbopump can be applied to, has a 30-ton(metric) level of vacuum thrust and employs a gas generator cycle. The turbopump consists of two single-stage centrifugal pumps, that is, LOX and kerosene pumps, and one single-stage impulse turbine. Inter-propellant seal(IPS) is located between the LOX pump and the kerosene pump to avoid any interaction between the propellants. A series of component and TPU(Turbopump Unit) test has been completed in the level of simulant propellants and ready for hot firing tests.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.835-840
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• 2011

The development of a turbopump is fundamental to have an independent LRE(liquid rocket engine) for KSLV-II. Recently, the detail design of a turbopump real-propellant test facility based on liquid oxygen and kerosene has been performed to structure the test facility for the experimental validation of the turbopump. In this paper, the design requirements of the turbopump and the specifications of the test facility was presented and the representative sub-facilities were explained on the basis of the design results. Also, the uncertainty of the sub-facilities which could be appeared during the operation was removed in advance through the simulation method and the experimental verification.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.56-61
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• 2011

Performance test of a full-scale turbopump assembly for a 75 ton class liquid rocket engine was carried out at full speed. Model fluid was used as a working medium: liquid nitrogen for the oxidizer pump, water for the fuel pump, and hot air for the turbine. The turbopump was operated stably, satisfying the performance requirements. Head coefficient and flow coefficient of the pumps remained constant at the speed-increasing period. In terms of performance characteristics of pumps and turbine, the results from the turbopump assembly test showed a good agreement with those from the turbopump component tests.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.35-41
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• 2013

Torque characteristics of a turbopump turbine was analyzed using the turbine performance test result. Specific torque of the subject turbine could be expressed as a linear function of corrected rotor speed at a fixed pressure ratio and it has been confirmed by the test result. It also found that corrected rotor speed-specific torque characteristics does not change anymore if the turbine pressure ratio is set bigger than a certain value. Using the turbine torque characteristics and pyro-starter performance test results, rotational speed development behavior of the turbopump was predicted. Prediction revealed that the lap time reaching 50% of turbopump design speed is less than 0.7 second. Effect of the thermal loss between pyro-starter and turbopump was negligible.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.8-13
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• 2017

This study was performed to evaluate the turbine performance of a turbopump in the third stage engine of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-II. The turbine is a supersonic impulse type with a single rotor. One nozzle is for starting and four remaining nozzles are for steady operation. A similarity test was carried out in the high air test facilities at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute. Test results showed that turbine efficiency changed much more from rotational speed variations than by pressure ratio variations. These results showed characteristics similar to other supersonic impulse turbines.