Viking (engine)

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Viking 5C

The Viking engine was developed in France and was supposed to power the first stage of the never realized Europa III rocket. After the end of this project, it was selected for the first stage and with an enlarged thrust nozzle (optimized for operation in a vacuum) for the second stage of Ariane 1 . Improved versions were also used in Ariane 2 , 3 and 4 .

As a result, licenses were issued to India for the original versions , where the engines are manufactured under the name Vikas and are used in various stages of the PSLV and GSLV missiles.

technology

The Viking engines work with the bypass flow process and use hypergolic propellants that ignite spontaneously on contact with one another. The Ariane 1 used nitrogen tetroxide as an oxidizer and UDMH as a fuel . However, because the combustion instability occurred on the second flight of the Ariane 1, which led to the crash, it was decided to change the fuel type to UH 25 while the oxidizer was retained. However, this project was only realized with the boosted Viking versions that were used from Ariane 2.

Approx. 1 kg of oxidizer and 1 kg of fuel are burned per second in the gas generator, producing exhaust gases at a temperature of 3000 ° C. To prevent the gas from damaging the turbine, 4 liters of water are injected every second, reducing the gas temperature to 600 ° C. The turbine has an output of 2500 kW at 10,000 revolutions per minute and drives two turbo pumps, which press a total of approx. 275 kg of oxidizer and fuel per second from the side into the combustion chamber.

In order to protect the inner wall of the combustion chamber from the reaction products at a temperature of 3000 ° C, a fuel curtain is injected along the inside of the combustion chamber wall, which locally forms a non-burning, cooling layer in the absence of an oxidizer. However, the thrust nozzle is not actively cooled, but heats up until it, glowing red, emits just as much thermal energy to the outside through radiation as it absorbs from the inside from the hot gas of the thrust jet.

Technical specifications

version Viking 2 Viking 2B Viking 4 Viking 4B Viking 5C Viking 6
height 2.87 m 2.87 m 3.51 m 3.51 m 2.87 m 2.87 m
diameter 0.99 m 0.99 m 1.70 m 1.70 m 0.99 m 0.99 m
Dimensions ? ? 826 kg 826 kg 826 kg 826 kg
Fuels Nitrogen tetroxide and UDMH in a ratio of 1.86: 1 Nitrogen tetroxide and UH 25 in a ratio of 1.70: 1 Nitrogen tetroxide and UDMH in a ratio of 1.86: 1 Nitrogen tetroxide and UH 25 in a ratio of 1.70: 1 Nitrogen tetroxide and UH 25 in a ratio of 1.70: 1 Nitrogen tetroxide and UH 25 in a ratio of 1.71: 1
Fuel consumption approx. 275 kg / s approx. 275 kg / s approx. 275 kg / s approx. 275 kg / s approx. 275 kg / s approx. 275 kg / s
Power of the turbine 2500 kW / 10,000 / min 2500 kW / 10,000 / min 2500 kW / 10,000 / min 2500 kW / 10,000 / min 2500 kW / 10,000 / min 2500 kW / 10,000 / min
Vacuum thrust 690 kN ? 713 kN 800 kN 758 kN 750 kN
Ground thrust 611 kN 643 kN - - 678 kN ?
use Ariane 1, GSLV Ariane 2, 3 Ariane 1, PSLV, GSLV Ariane 2 - 4 Ariane 4 PAL (Ariane 4 liquid booster)

commitment

Four Viking 2 engines were used in the first stage and a Viking 4 engine with an extended thruster was used in the second stage of Ariane 1. The improved Viking 2B engine was used in the first stages of Ariane 2 , 3 . In the first stage of Ariane 4 , the slightly improved Viking 5C engine was used. The improved Viking 4B engine, with its large thrust nozzle, was not only used in the second stages of Ariane 2 and 3, but also in the second stage of Ariane 4. The Viking 6 engine, on the other hand, again had a small thrust nozzle and was used by the PAL liquid fuel boosters of the Ariane 4.

For the original versions Viking 2 and 4, licenses were granted to India , where the engines continue to be produced under the name Vikas and are used in various stages of the PSLV and GSLV missiles.

The Viking engines were highly reliable. Viking engines were only involved in the crash of Ariane rockets twice. When Ariane 1 started for the second time, there was a combustion instability in a Viking engine of the first stage, which led to the crash. In the second false start, however, the reason was not the Viking engine, but a cloth clogged a fuel line of a Viking 6 engine and thus caused an Ariane 44L to crash on flight V 36.

See also

swell

  1. ↑ See: Sectional drawing

Web links

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