• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.85-93
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• 2015

Liquid rocket engines of KSLV-II employ a turbopump feed system for propellants. A turbopump real-propellant test facility based on liquid oxygen and kerosene has been constructed for the experimental verification of the turbopump performance using the real media of propellants(i.e., LOX/Kerosene). The verification tests of sub-systems were performed such as LOX/kerosene feed system and alcohol burner system. Finally, the performance of the whole system was executed and verified through a sets of validation tests with the development model of the KSLV-II turbopumps. It has been confirmed that the test facility satisfies the operating conditions and time of the turbopump at the design and off-design performance test using real-propellant.

• 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.

• 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.18 no.5
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• pp.79-86
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• 2014

A turbopump real-propellant test facility(TPTF) is to verify the performance of a turbopump unit(TPU) based on liquid oxygen and kerosene. One of the most important sub-facilities is a hot-gas generation system which makes the driving force of the TPU with an alcohol burner. The alcohol burner generates the required flow rates and temperature at the facility using high pressure air and ethanol. In the study, the verification tests of the alcohol burner which was manufactured entirely with domestic technology were performed and fabrication technique and operation skill for the burner could be obtained ahead of the construction of the facility. Two burners will be operated simultaneously for the real-propellant test of 75tf class turbopump and satisfy the power requirement from the turbine of the TPU.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.11-17
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• 2009

Hot-fire test of a turbopump for a gas generator cycle rocket engine of 30 ton class was carried out in real propellant environment. Liquid oxygen and kerosene were used for the oxidizer pump and the fuel pump, respectively, while hot gas produced by the gas generator was supplied to the turbine. A part of the propellant discharged from the pumps was provided to the gas generator. The turbopump was run stably at both on-design and off-design conditions, satisfying all the performance requirements. This paper describes one of the test cases, where the turbopump was run for 120 seconds at three different operating modes in one test. 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.32 no.5
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• pp.154-159
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• 2016

This paper presents an experimental study of the leakage performance and endurance performance of a mechanical face seal in the 7-ton-class turbopump of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle 2 third-stage engine. We install a mechanical face seal between the fuel pump and turbine to prevent the mixing of the fuel and turbine gas. We design and manufacture a prototype mechanical face seal, which has two parts, namely, a bellows seal assembly and mating ring. We set up a test facility to measure the leakage and endurance of the mechanical face seal. For the similarity tests, we use water under real operating conditions such as high rotational speed, high temperature, and high pressure. Through investigation of the leakage and carbon wear rate, it is possible to evaluate the performance of the mechanical face seal. The results of the leakage and endurance performance test demonstrate the absence of any leakage from the prototype mechanical face seal after a trial run and clarify that the acceptable wear rate fully satisfies the turbopump requirements. Finally, we install a qualified mechanical face seal in a 7-ton-class turbopump and perform a validation test in the turbopump real-propellant test facility in the Korea Aerospace Research Institute. The test results confirm that the mechanical face seal works well under real operating conditions.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.75-81
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• 2020

In this paper, we present an experimental investigation of the leakage and endurance performances of mechanical face seals in a 75-tonf turbopump for the Korea Space Launch Vehicle II first-stage engine. A mechanical face seal is used between the fuel pump and turbine to prevent mixing of the fuel and turbine gas. However, excessive leakage occurs through the carbon attached to the mechanical face seal bellows. To reduce this leakage, we redesign the mechanical face seal such that the contact area between the fuel and carbon is reduced, height of the carbon nose is reduced, and stiffness of the bellows is increased. Then, we conduct static and dynamic leakage tests and endurance tests to compare the performances of the original and modified mechanical face seals. The investigation of the leakage of the old and new mechanical face seals confirms that the leakage performance is significantly improved, by 80%, in the new design in comparison with the old design. The endurance tests demonstrate that the average wear rate of carbon in the new mechanical face seal is 0.1094 ㎛/s. The service lifetime is predicted to be 4,200 s, which is 28 times greater than the requirement. Finally, we present a new mechanical face seal in a 75-tonf turbopump, and perform a validation test in the real-propellant test facility at the NARO Space Center. Based on the test results, we can confirm that the modified mechanical face seal works well under real operating conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.65-72
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• 2015

Performance tests of a turbopump for the developing 7-tonf liquid rocket engine were conducted. The performance of turbopump components and their power matching were measured and examined firstly under the LN2 and water environment. In the real propellant(LOX and kerosene) environment tests, design and off-design performances of turbopump were fully verified. During the off-design tests, turbopump running time was set the same as engine operating time and pump inlet pressure were set lower than nominal operating value in order to investigate pump suction capability. It have been verified that subject turbopump satisfies required performance - flow rate, head, suction performance and operational time - in the operating regime of developing liquid rocket engine.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.1-11
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• 2017

TPTF (Turbopump Real Propellant Test Facility) at Naro Space Center has used alcohol burner system to simulate the gas flow of gas generator of liquid rocket engine. During the test at TPTF, the temperature and pressure at turbine inlet were smoothly increased while those of the gas generator of engine were constant. Present research developed a simulation code for the burner and the piping system and applied to the system. The calculation results were in good agreement with the test, and confirmed quantitatively that the non-steadiness is due to the heat transfer of the pipe. While the insulation of the pipe is ineffective, the length has a large impact on the turbine inlet condition. The present research clarified the empirically estimation of test condition, and can be applied to determination of the following test conditions.