Rocket Propulsion Elements, 9th Edition

CHAPTER 5CHEMICAL ROCKET PROPELLANT PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS

This chapter is an introduction to the theory, performance, and description of the most useful gas parameters in chemical rocket propulsion systems. It identifies relevant chemical fundamentals, basic analytical approaches, and key equations. While not presenting complete and complex analytical results to actual propulsion systems, it does list references for the required detailed analyses. Also included are tables of calculated results for several common liquid propellant combinations and select solid propellants, including exhaust gas composition for some of these. Furthermore, it describes how various key parameters influence both performance and exhaust gas composition.

In Chapter 3, simplified one‐dimensional performance relations were developed that require knowledge of the composition of rocket propulsion gases and some properties of propellant reaction products, such as their chamber temperature T₁, average molecular mass , and specific heat ratios or enthalpy change across the nozzle (). This chapter presents several theoretical approaches to determine these relevant thermochemical properties for any given composition or propellant mixture, chamber pressure, and nozzle area ratio or exit pressure. Such information ...