C20 cryogenic engine
ISRO has achieved an important success. The much awaited rocket engine C20 Cryogenic has successfully passed the test. Now soon this engine will make an important contribution in the future missions of the country. ISRO has successfully completed sea level hot test of its CE20 cryogenic engine with nozzle area ratio of 100 at ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu on 29 November 2024. The test also demonstrated the multi-element igniter required for engine restart capability.
Test at sea level risky
Testing the CE20 engine at sea level poses significant challenges, primarily due to the high pressure ratio nozzle which has an exit pressure of approximately 50 mbar. The major concern during tests at sea level is flow separation inside the nozzle, which leads to severe vibrations and thermal problems at the flow separation bottom which can lead to possible mechanical damage to the nozzle. To mitigate this problem, flight tests for the CE20 engine are currently being conducted in a high-altitude test (HAT) facility, which adds to the complexity of the endurance testing process.
To reduce the complexity associated with testing in HAT, the seabed test using nozzle protection system was designed, which has led to a cost-effective and less complex process for acceptance testing of cryogenic engines.
restarting the engine is a difficult task
Restarting a cryogenic engine is a complex process. The major challenges are vacuum ignition without nozzle closure and use of multi-element igniter. ISRO has previously demonstrated vacuum ignition of the CE20 engine without closing the nozzle in ground tests. Now in this test, the performance of the multi-element igniter was also evaluated, in which only the first element was activated while the condition of the other two elements was monitored.
Engine achieved performance parameter
During this test, both engine and feature performance were normal, and the engine achieved the performance parameters. The indigenous CE20 cryogenic engine built by ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Center is powering the upper stage of the LVM3 launch vehicle and is capable of operating at a thrust level of 19 tonnes. This engine has successfully powered the upper stage of 6 LVM3 missions so far. Recently, the engine was qualified for the Gaganyaan mission with a thrust level of 20 tonnes, and was also qualified with an uprated thrust level of 22 tonnes for the future C32 stage, making it the first LVM3 launch vehicle. Payload capacity will increase.
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