Argopelter is an experimental engine designed to gain maximum performance in tight packaging. The name Argopelter comes from a mythical creature that resides in the forests of the Northern US that occupies itself by throwing branches at high speed towards passerby. The name is a tongue-in-cheek local reference to local culture.
The Argopelter engine uses a different approach to combustion chamber design coined "base injection" for injecting its propellants. The engine has a slightly complex manifolding such that the propellants are injected near the base of the combustion chamber. The propellants mix and start to combust while travelling up the engine towards the top and are then drawn to the throat by the large pressure gradient.
Traditionally, spherical combustion chambers have poor combustion efficiency. The objective of the injector configuration is to ensure that the propellants dwell in the chamber as long as possible, thus extending the effective length of the chamber to proportions on the order of traditionally cylindrical combustion chambers. |
A cutaway render of the Argopelter engine
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The plot to the left shows how the arrangement of injectors affects the flow pattern, allowing approximately twice the effective length of the combustion chamber.
Argopelter will eventually be powering an experimental rocket called Redwood. This rocket is an exercise in packaging an experimental rocket engine and its ground support equipment. |