FIRST STEPS TOWARD SPACE - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

238 SMITHSONIAN ANNALS OF FLIGHT
about 2% of the reaction energy of the main process.
Under a pressure of about 250 atm water as supplemental
coolant is pumped at the nozzle throat into
the cooling channels of the thrust chamber heated
by combustion gases; the water circumferentially
FIGURE 1.—Schematic representation of the main
components of the rocket engine, shown installed
in the interior of the rocket bomber proposed
by Sanger (see reference 14). Its operation is as
follows: The fuel goes from the fuel tank (A)
to the fuel pump (B), where, compressed to
150 atm, it is then fed continuously through
valve 5 to the injection head of the combustion
chamber. The oxygen goes from the thin-walled
uninsulated oxygen tank (C) into the oxygen
pump (D), where it is compressed to 150 atm,
then forced through valve 6 and the tubes of
the condensers (E) into the injection head of
the combustion chamber (F), after being warmed
to 0° C. In the combustion chamber the propellants
burn at a constant pressure of 100 atm,
and a temperature of 4000° C, producing an
exhaust velocity of between 3000 and 4000 m/sec,
with a thrust of 100,000 kg and a propellant
consumption of 245-327 kg/sec. It was proposed
that the aircraft carry a 90,000-kg propellant
supply and that the rocket engine operate for
from 275 to 367 seconds.
The turbopump assembly is driven by steam
generated through the cooling of the combustion
chamber (F). The water pump (G) delivers
circulates several times towards the nozzle exit and
is tapped off as superheated steam under high
pressure to expand across a turbine down to about
5 atm. In a lox-cooled condenser, the exhausted
steam turns to water and thereby preheats the lox
about 28 kg/sec of water, under 250-atm pressure,
into the coolant tubes at the nozzle throat
(H) whence the water flows toward the nozzle
exit (I), being heated to 3000° C in the process.
Still above the critical pressure, the water is
then forced through the tubes of the combustion
chamber (J) where it vaporizes in the critical
pressure range. Finally, the resulting highly
compressed, superheated steam is removed at
the injector head (K) and used to drive the
steam turbine. In the process, the steam expands
to about 6 atm and passes into the liquidoxygen-cooled
condensers, where the steam is
condensed back into water, giving up considerable
energy to the oxygen, and then repeats the
cooling cycle by again passing through the
water pump (G). The steam turbine drives all
three pumps from the same shaft. During the
process valves 3, 4, 5, and 6 are open; 1 and 2
are closed; while 7 serves as a safety valve against
too high rotation of the turbine. The pumping
process is started with the aid of an external
steam generator, which produces by chemical
means the small amounts of steam required; in
this process the valves 3 and 4 are closed and
1, 2, 5, 6, and 7 are opened.