PISTONLESS

ROCKET ENGINE

WHAT IS IT ???
For performance, a rocket must have large,
lightweight propellant tanks
Pressure fed tanks are heavy and/or
expensive and safety margins cost too much
in terms of performance.
Turbopumps are expensive and require a
massive engineering effort.
The solution is the The Dual Pistonless
Pump
Simple to design and manufacture and with
performance comparable to a turbopump and
complexity and reliability comparable to a

TOPICS

BASIC PUMP DESIGN CONCEPT

LATEST PUMP INNOVATIONS

ADVANTAGES OVER TURBO PUMPS AND

PRESSURE FED SYSTEMS

PRESENT PUMP TEST INCLUDING A STATIC FIRE

TEST

PROVE WEIGHT SAVINGS OVER PRESSURE FED

TANKAGE OF OVER 80%

FIRST GENERATION
DESIGN:1. Drain the main tank at low
pressure into a small pump
chamber.
2. Pressurize the pump chamber
and feed to the engine.
3. Run two in parallel, venting
and filling one faster than the
other is

SECOND GENERATION DESIGN:Main chamber vents and fills

quickly through multiple check
valves.
One main chamber and one
auxiliary chamber, less weight
than two chambers of equal size
Pump fits in tank, simplified
plumbing
Concentric design maintains
balance.
Model has been built and tested
(patent pending)

Expensive and
Difficult to Design
and Build:
Turbo pumps
Failure mode:
Explosion
Complex system:

Fluid Dynamics of
rotor/stator
Bearings
Seals
Cavitations
Heat transfer
Thermal shock
Rotor dynamics
Startup & Shut
down

Piston less Pump Development

Issues

Currently uses slightly more gas than pressure

fed system. Can use less with pressurant heating.
Not invented here.
No experience base, must be static tested and
flown.
Requires different system optimization than
pressure fed or turbo pump systems: no sample
problems in the book.

ADVANTAGES

Negligible chance of catastrophic failure.

Much lighter than pressure fed system at similar cost.

One to two orders of magnitude lower engineering, testing and

manufacturing cost than turbo pump.

Low weight, comparable to turbo pump.

Quick startup, shutdown. No fuel used during spool up.

Can be run dry. No minimum fuel requirement.

Less than 10 moving parts. Inherent reliability.

Inexpensive materials and processes.

Mass producible and scalable, allows for redundant systems.

Affordable and Reliable: Dual

Piston less Pump

Failure mode: Propellant

dump
Major components:
Check Valves
Level Sensors
Pressure vessels
These parts are
available off the shelf
for low cost
Control System
inexpensive
microprocessor

Pump
Performance
Pump performance
close to target of
1.5 kg/sec at 4 Mpa
(20 GPM, 600 psi)
Pressure
fluctuations are
minimal.

Pump

performs
better when running
on Helium
Pump

needs more
testing with rocket
engine and to be
flown to prove
design.

Another Calculation: Mass Savings of Pump and Tank Over Pressure Fed Tank

Mass of pressure fed tank is proportional to volume and

pressure
Mass of pump fed system is the mass of a lighter low
pressure tank plus the mass of the pump
Tank Mass Savings:
200 KPa tank is 1/10 the weight of a 2 MPa tank. Pump
size,weight is less than 1/10 of that of pressure fed
tank.
Pump chamber pressure is the same as pressure fed
tank pressure, but the volume is much less.

Mass Savings over

Pressure Fed System
5 second cycle time and 300 KPa tank pressure
3q50,600,900 psi fuel pressure
Mass Savings over pressure fed system

Mass Savings

100%
Propellant
pressure

80%
60%

2.4 Mpa

40%

4.2 Mpa
6.2 Mpa

20%
0%
0

50

100

150

200

Burn Time (seconds)

250

300

Conclusions/ Future Plans

Pump weight and cost are low and it works as designed.
Next steps:
Static test and fly pump in student rocket with
Flometrics rocket technology.
Along with latest low Costa engine designs, pump
will make launch systems more safe, reliable and
affordable.

NASA
Fastrac
TRW
Low Cost Pintle
Engine

Beal
BA 810

Microcosm
Scorpius