SBIR-STTR Award

The objective of this project is to evaluate the use of a novel, recently developed, mixing process, impingement-sheet mixing, for the injection of liquid propellants in rocket engines. Earlier work has demonstrated that impingement-sheet mixing is one of the fastest liquid-phase mixing technologies available and could potentially be advantageous in rocket injectors. The experimental program to be performed in Phase I will provide preliminary estimates of the liquid-phase micromixing time of impinging sheets at velocities typical of rocket injectors. Liquid-phase micromixing times will also be estimated for conventional rocket injectors using impinging jets. Comparisons of the results will be made to evaluate the potential use of impingement-sheet mixing as an alternative design for rocket injectors. Successful completion of the Phase I effort will lead to a proposed Phase II effort that will quantitatively investigate and model the effect of injection Reynolds number on liquid-phase mixing rate for both impinging sheets and impinging jets.The results of this project could assist in the application of impingement-sheet mixing in the chemical dye industry, the photographic film industry, and in reaction injection molding. impingement-sheet mixing, rocket engines, liquid propellant injectorsSTATUS: Phase I Only