Advanced Interpropellant Seal Design and Manufacturing Technology

Interpropellant Seals (IPS) maintain fuel and oxidizer propellant separation in a rocket engine turbopump.Because inadvertent mixing of the fuel and oxidizer can result in combustion, IPS packages are rated as a Criticality 1 on the Critical Items Listmeaning that failure of the component could cause loss of life or vehicle.P3 Technologies proposes an innovative seal design not possible prior to the availability of additive manufacturing.The seal design provides improved leakage control, reduced flow rates, and enables configurations that can be packaged in reduced axial spacing for an overall reduction in turbopump size and weight, along with improved rotordynamic performance.Furthermore, the seal design doesnt require the use of carbon seals or any other componentthus inherently increasing its reliability.The technology is equally applicable to both buffered and non-buffered IPS designs.In Phase I, P3 Technologies will develop and characterize this technology through modeling, simulation, and analysis, along with generating a design system and parametric model.In Phase II, P3 will conduct laboratory risk-reduction testing, along with full-scale design, analysis, and hardware fabrication for an actual turbopump application.