Investigation of Performance Stability of a Nytrox Hybrid Rocket Propulsion System

Abstract

Nitrous oxide is a highly suitable oxidizer for hybrid rockets due to its self-pressurizing properties, moderate cost, and high accessibility. However, its vapor pressure and density are highly dependent on ambient temperature, requiring careful consideration of temperature variations in real applications. To mitigate this issue, an oxidizer called Nytrox was produced by adding a small fraction of oxygen to bulk nitrous oxide. This modification enables the hybrid rocket propulsion system to maintain a nearly constant average thrust and total impulse across a wide range of ambient temperatures. A series of 7 s hot-fire tests of a small Nytrox/polypropylene hybrid rocket engine operating at ~60 barA of running tank pressure demonstrated a consistent average thrust of 45.3 ± 0.7 kgf and a total impulse of 307.6 ± 3.9 kgf·s within a N2O temperature range of 5.9–22.6 °C, compared to highly varying values of the N2O/polypropylene one within a N2O temperature range of 10.8–29.8 °C. Furthermore, the specific impulse of the Nytrox hybrid rocket engine increases mildly with decreasing temperature because of the increasing amount of added oxygen that benefits the combustion for generating the thrust.