Development of an O/F control mechanism

A significant limiting factor of hybrid propulsion systems is the continuous change in surface area of the propellant grain during the combustion process. This changing O/F ratio has an impact on the performance of the hybrid system making it hard to optimise. Work at Kingston University has been the development of a light weight, compact Electrical Capacitance Tomography (ECT) system used to study the combustion processes of hybrid propellant propulsion systems. The tomography system operates at approx. 4,000-6,000Hz gathering significant amounts of data per run.

In order to perform inflight tests using the ECT as hardware in the loop to control O/F ratios in a hybrid propulsion system a rugged miniaturised microwave Ka band RF transceiver needs to be developed. This key technology, tested in-situ on representative chemical rocket propulsion systems will enable the development of a O/F control mechanism that will overcome one of the major barriers for exploiting the benefits of hybrid propellant propulsion systems.

Student: Arya Iranian

University Partner: Kingston University

Industry Partner: EECL