"RD-301" ( 11D14 [1] ) - Soviet high-performance liquid-propellant rocket engine ( LRE ). It was created in the mid-1970s for use in the upper stages of rockets and upper stages. Used extremely rare combination of oxidizing agent and fuel - liquid fluorine + liquid ammonia . Passed the full volume of bench tests, including official ones, but was never used in flights, [2] despite the fact that it was quite ready for flights. [3] By efficiency, the engine was close to the engines on a pair of oxygen-hydrogen. The engine turned out to be complicated and dangerous due to the high chemical activity of fluorine, the high toxicity of the fuel components and their reaction products. Actually, these reasons led to the fact that the engine did not find application: first, the concept of fluorine engines was revised to a more efficient and somewhat less toxic fluorine-hydrogen fuel pair, and then they completely abandoned the fluorine oxidizer. [1] [3]
| RD-301 | |
|---|---|
 Rocket engine "RD-301" in the museum GDL | |
| Type of | Rocket engine |
| Fuel | liquid ammonia |
| Oxidizing agent | liquid fluorine |
| Combustion chambers | one |
| A country | the USSR |
| Using | |
| Operation time | not used |
| Production | |
| Constructor | V.P.Glushko |
| Time of creation | mid 1970s |
| Weight and size specifications | |
| Performance | |
| Traction | Vacuum: 98.1 kN |
| Specific impulse | Vacuum: 3928 m / s |
| Working hours | 750 c |
| Pressure in the combustion chamber | 11.8 MPa |
Device
The design of the engine is partially borrowed from earlier, experimental engines 11D13 and 8D21. [1] LRE of a closed cycle with afterburning of a reducing gas in the combustion chamber with a temperature of 4400 K. The ratio of the components of the fuel is 2.7. Fuel cooling (regenerative and curtain in the combustion chamber). Single- shaft turbo-pump unit , 1265 kW, 470 rpm. The gas generator runs on fuel components. Control of electropneumatic valves using compressed helium. There were options for one-time and multiple launch. [2] During the development process, a lot of technical difficulties were resolved due to the extreme aggressiveness of the oxidizer, high demands on the production culture. [one]
Intended Use
Development was launched for the future, without considering the specific rocket stage, with the expectation that a good engine will always be in demand. The development was preceded by single-start engines with similar characteristics, in particular, 8D21. [1] The use of the engine at the third stage of the Proton launch vehicle was considered . An almost one-and-a-half increase in the carrying capacity of the carrier was expected during the withdrawal to low orbits. Were started (but stopped) work on the preparation of launch complexes for filling the upper stages with fluorine and ammonia. [3] There was interest from developers as part of the Soviet lunar program . [1] There are mentions that the development of a special variant of the overclocking Block D was considered . [four]
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 Vyacheslav Rakhmanin. NPO Energomash. "Fluorine LRE: the ratio of opportunity and necessity . "
- ↑ 1 2 Encyclopedia "Cosmonautics", ed. V.P. Glushko. M: "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1985.
- 2 1 2 3 Journal of Cosmonautics News, May 1998. I. Afanasyev. "PH" Proton ": non-flying options . "
- ↑ Khimki news portal .