Lesson 2 : Thermal Rocket Engine
Topics/Contents:
Basic Configuration of Thermal Rocket Engine
Thermodynamics of Rocket Engine
Thrust Equation and Effect of Atmosphere
Basic Configuration of Thermal Rocket Engine
A thermal rocket is a rocket engine that uses a propellant that is externally heated before being passed through a nozzle to produce thrust.
The thermal rocket motor is a heat engine, that converts the heat generated by burning the propellants (fuel and oxidizer) in the combustion chamber into kinetic energy of the exhaust gases. The momentum carried away by the exhaust gas provides the thrust, which accelerated the rocket.
Forces acting on the Combustion Chamber and Nozzle
Gas flow through nozzle
The force accelerating the exhaust gas, the reaction of the walls is equal to the surface integrals of the pressure taken over the whole inner surface of the chamber and nozzle. The gas flowing through the nozzle is impelled by the pressure upstream is greater than the pressure downstream.
This is the force that accelerated the gas through the nozzle.
The Thermodynamics of the Rocket Engine
