Design and Numerical Analysis of Counter-Rotating Axial Turbine for Liquid Rocket Engine Turbopump Application
摘要
A counter-rotating turbine offers advantages relative to traditional multistage turbines. Specific to liquid rocket engine application, a configuration with a counter-rotating turbine with two rotors, which have different rotational speeds and powers to drive the fuel pump and oxidizer pump, respectively, can avoid the disadvantages of two separate turbine configurations and associated weight penalties as in the conventional design practices. This paper addresses the results of design and numerical analysis for a typical two-stage subsonic axial turbine having two rotors rotating in opposite directions. The choice of design parameters was made considering a potential application of this concept for a typical liquid rocket engine turbopump application where in 1st stage of the turbine drives the Main propellant pump and 2nd stage (counter-rotating stage) drives a booster pump, which feeds the main pump. The blade angles were finalised using 1D mean line analysis. Performance of the turbine was evaluated through CFD for a range of operating conditions. The performance of the turbine meets the design requirements and confirms the choices made during 1D mean line design. Hardware realisation for the turbine has been initiated and performance evaluation through experimental route is planned shortly.