US 12,140,108 B1
Detonation of un-decomposed liquid oxidizer in a rocket engine
Ali Moradi, Houston, TX (US); Hannah McCallum, Houston, TX (US); William Thomas Ross, Houston, TX (US); Vishal Doshi, Houston, TX (US); Eric Wernimont, Houston, TX (US); and Andrew Duggleby, Houston, TX (US)
Assigned to VENUS AEROSPACE CORP, Houston, TX (US)
Filed by VENUS AEROSPACE CORP, Houston, TX (US)
Filed on Aug. 4, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/365,767.
Int. Cl. F02K 9/95 (2006.01); F02K 9/42 (2006.01); F02K 9/68 (2006.01)
CPC F02K 9/95 (2013.01) [F02K 9/425 (2013.01); F02K 9/68 (2013.01)] 9 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for ignition and operation of a rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) configured to run on a liquid rocket fuel and a liquid oxidizer, where the liquid oxidizer comprises liquid H2O2, comprising the steps of:
(a) initially decomposing the liquid H2O2 into oxygen and superheated water steam by passing the liquid H2O2 through a catalyst bed and delivering the oxygen and superheated water steam decomposition products to a predetonation tube of the RDRE, wherein the decomposition products are mixed with the rocket fuel to initiate detonation; and
(b) once detonation is initiated, delivering the rocket fuel and the liquid H2O2 directly to the reaction chamber of the RDRE, bypassing the catalyst bed, wherein high-temperature and pressure conditions within the rocket reaction chamber cause the H2O2 to decompose, whereupon continuous operation of the rocket engine is achieved without the need to first decompose the H2O2 before introducing the H2O2 into the RDRE reaction chamber.