Low Cost, High Pressure, Electric Metering Centrifugal Pump for Liquid Fueled, Expendable, Tactical Missile Propulsion Systems

An electrically driven high head rise centrifugal pump is proposed. Ongoing component technology development indicates this system will be required to meet next generation expendable Air-Turbo-Ramjet (ATR), Liquid Fuel RamJet (LFRJ) and turboJet missile propulsion engine requirements. During Phae I CFDRC will collaborate with Northern Research Engineering to: 1. design and fabricate a prototype ambinet inlet centrifugal pump capable of operating with hydrazine and deliver 1700 psia at .5 lbm/sec; 2. interface the pump with an off-the-shelf electric motor capable of controlling the pump as close to its optimal speed as possible; 3. interface the electric motor control to bench top breadboard electronics capable of receiving commands from a personal computer; 4. demonstrate the system over a wide range of flow rates using water; and 5. deliver sufficient expendable/replaceable hardware to support a MICOM test program. CFDRC will coordinate the fabrication of the Phase I pump prototype such that it will be fully integrated into the U.S. Army MICOM ATR demonstrator engine upon its delivery. Phase II will focus on delivering anumber of flight weight and flight worthy systems which meet flow rate and configuration specifications of future Army tactical missile propulsion system (ATR, LFRJ, Turbojet, etc.) and missions.