A

Presentation
on
Piston Less Pump
By
Ram Prakash
14EAOME052
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Arya Institute of Engineering Technology & Management
Rajasthan Technical University, Kota
CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION
2. DEFINITION
3. CLASSIFICATION OF PUMP
4. PUMP DESIGN
5. DESIGN CONSIDERATION
6. INSTALLATION
7. WORKING PRINCIPLE
8. DUAL PISTON LESS PUMP
9. WORKING MODEL OF PISTON LESS PUMP
10. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TURBO & PISTON LESS PUMP
11. WHY PISTONLESS PUMP
12. FLOW AND PRESSURE DATA FOR PISTON LESS FUEL PUMP
13. PUMP TESTING
14. NECESSITY
15. APPLICATION
16. ADVANTAGES
17. DISADVANTAGES
18. FUTURE APPLICATION
19. CONCLUSION
1. INTRODUCTION

NASA have developed a Low cost rocket fuel pump which has comparable
performance to turbo pump at 80-90% lower cost. Perhaps the most
difficult barrier to entry in the liquid rocket business is the turbo pump. A
turbo pump design requires a large engineering effort and is expensive to
manufacture and test. Starting a turbo pump fed rocket engine is a complex
process, requiring a careful synchronization of many valves and
subsystems. In fact, Beal aerospace tried to avoid the issue entirely by
building a huge pressure feed booster. Their booster never flew, but the
engineering behind it was sound and, if they had a low cost pump at their
disposal, they might be competing against Boeing. This pump saves up to
90% of the mass of the tanks as compared to a pressure fed system. This
pump has really proved to be a boon for rockets. By using this pump the
rocket does not have to carry such a heavy load and can travel with very
high speed.
2. DEFINATION

 A Piston less pump is a type of pump designed to move fluids without

any moving parts other than three chamber valves.

 The piston less pump is similar to a pressure fed system, but instead of
having the a main tank at high pressure (typically 300-500 psi) the
proposed pump system has a low pressure tank (5 -50 psi) which
delivers propellant at low pressure into a pump chamber, where it is
then pressurized to high pressure and delivered to the engine.

 The pump contains a chamber which has a valved inlet from the fluid
to be pumped, a valved outlet - both of these at the bottom of the
pump, and a pressurant inlet at the top of the pump. A pressurant is
used, such as steam or pressurized helium, to drive the fluid through
the pump.
3. CLASSIFICATION OF PUMP

Pumps are classified into two type

1. Positive displacement pump (Reciprocating)
Working of this type of pump is based on the to
and fro motion of the piston inside the cylinder
which is responsible for the suction and discharge
stroke.
2. Negative displacement pump (Rotary)
{centrifugal pump}
Working of this type of pump is based on the rotary
motion of the impeller inside the casing which is
responsible for continues suction and discharge of the
fluid throughout it.
As Centrifugal pump not having moving parts like
piston and cylinder, therefore it is known as piston
less pump.
4. PUMP DESIGN

 Two pumping chambers are used, each one

being alternately refilled and pressurized.
 pressurized gas acts directly on the fluid.
 vent, refill and pressurize one pumping
chamber is less than the time to dispense
 when the level in one side gets low, the
other side is pressurized; and then after
flow is established from both sides.
 the low side is vented and refilled.
 This results in steady flow and pressure.
The pressures and flow rates were
measured and the data was analyzed to
determine how to improve the pump
performance.
5. DESIGN CONSIDERATION

 A pump with a small chamber must be filled

and vented quickly, with minimal head loss
through the gas and liquid valves and
plumbing.
 The maximum inflow rate is limited by the
main tank pressure (usually about 300 kPa)
and the area of the inlet valves.
 If the inflow velocity is too high, the
propellant will be aerated, which may cause
problems with the engine.
 The ullage volume in the pump chamber
should be small to minimize gas usage, but
if it is too small, there will be a loss of
propellant through the vent. Furthermore,
the pump cycle frequency must not excite
any combustion instabilities in the rocket
motor.
6. INSTALLATION

INSTALLATION FIGURE

The high pressure cylinder used for pressurizing fuel, is installed at

the bottom of the rocket, shown in green colour in the figure. And
above this cylinder further assembly is mounted as shown in the first
diagram. Thus the figure shows that the installation is very easy as
compared to that of the turbo pump.
7. WORKING PRINCIPLE

 When a certain mass of liquid is made to rotate by an external

force, it is thrown away from the central axis of rotation and a
centrifugal head is impressed which enables it to rise to a higher
level.

 The centrifugal force is created by the impeller spinning at high

speed inside the pump casing.

Piston less pump working principle

 8. DUAL PISTONLESS PUMP

 NASA has designed, built and tested a

simple, light weight pump (dual piston
less pump) for use in liquid propelled
rocket where a reliable pump with
minimal moving parts is needed
 This pump has the potential to reduce
the cost and increase the reliability of
rocket fuel pumps by a factor of 20 to
100 .
9. WORKING OF PISTONLESS PUMP

STEP-1

 It consists of main tank and Two

pumping chambers . The pump starts
with both chambers filled.
 Each one being alternately refilled
and pressurized.
 One chamber is pressurized, and fluid
is delivered to the rocket engine from
that chamber.
WORKING OF PISTONLESS PUMP(Cont….)

 STEP-1(a)

Once the level gets low in one

chamber, the other chamber is
pressurized.
WORKING OF PISTONLESS PUMP(Cont…)

 STEP - 2

Flow is thereby established from both

sides during a short period until full
flow is established from the other
chamber. Then the nearly empty
chamber is vented and refilled.
WORKING OF PISTONLESS PUMP(Cont…)

 STEP - 3

Finally the cycle repeats . This

results in steady flow and
pressure . The pump is powered
by pressurized gas which acts
directly on the fluid
10. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TURBO & PISTONLESS PUMP
11. WHY PISTONLESS PUMP?

 Piston (reciprocating) pumps are preferred when the volume to be

pumped is low but the head requirements are high.

 They also work well in applications where the NPSH available is

low because cavitation is less of a problem than with centrifugal
pumps.

 High-viscosity fluids with slow-flow characteristics are usually

handled more easily with a reciprocating pump.

 The two main downsides to using reciprocating pumps are high

initial cost per gallon of capacity and high maintenance expenses.
12. FLOW AND PRESSURE DATA FOR PISTONLESS
FUEL PUMP

 The below graph shows the variation of the flow of fuel through
both of the cylinders .
 It shows that as one cylinder gets emptied the other one gets
filled up and fuel is supplied by each cylinder to the engine
for each half cycle.
 As one cylinder gets emptied the other one gets filled up , thus
giving an uninterrupted fuel supply to the engine.
 Also, the time required for the refill of the fuel in the cylinder
is sufficient to supply fuel for next half cycle.
12.1 FLOW AND PRESSURE DATA GRAPH
 13. PUMP TESTING

13.1 Liquid Nitrogen Test

When pumping liquids near the boiling
point, the liquid must be prevented
from boiling excessively during the
vent cycle. This may be achieved by
venting through a back pressure
regulator or by shutting the vent when
the pump chamber pressure falls below
a preset level. This is particularly
important when the pump is used at
altitude or in space.
Liquid Nitrogen Test
 PUMP TESTING (CONT…)

13.2 Atlas Vernier Engine Test

The pump has been tested with an

Atlas vernier engine as a proof of
concept test. The pump worked well
maintaining pressure even as the
engine suffered an O-ring failure
which caused excessive fuel flow. The
pump delivered kerosene at 2.8 Mpa
and 1.1 kg/s. The LOX was pressure
fed for this test. Figure shows the
engine running with kerosene
Atlas vernier engine running with fuel pumped and
supplied by the pump. LOX pressure-fed
14. NECESSITY

 The turbo pumps used in rocket are very heavy, containing many
rotating parts by which there are more frictional losses which more
consumption of fuel there by decreasing the efficiency of the engine.
 since the rocket has to remain stable in the space, is difficult and require
complex methods for it. If this pump gets any fault then its reappearance
requires long time. So, there must be such a device which overcomes all
the drawbacks of the turbo pump.
 The Piston less pump is the solution for the problems faced by using
turbo pumps.
15. APPLICATIONS

 DEEP SPACE PROPULSION:

NASA has a need for high Power propulsion to land and spacecraft on the
moons of Jupiter and beyond. This pump would allow these missions to go
forward due to lower weight of the fuel tanks.
 X PRIZE VEHICLE FUEL PUMP APPLICATION:
For X-prize competitors, a the fuel pump will reduce the cost.
 PERFORMANCE VALIDATION:
it would achieve better residual propellant scavenging than a turbo pump.
16. ADVANTAGES

 All the hardware in the pump consists of pressure vessel so the

weight is low.
 The pump can be scaled up or down with similar performance and
minimal redesign issues.
 Low risk development; pump technology has been demonstrated
and prototypes have been built and tested.
 The manufacturing tolerances need not be tight.
 Less moving parts , hence lubrication required is quite low.
 Design is simple compared to turbo pumps.
17.DISADVANTAGES

 They cannot pump to higher pressure than drive gas (area ratio is 1:1)
 They cannot use either a staged combustion or expander cycle.
 A gas generator cycle is also difficult to integrate with the piston less
pump.
 The generated gas must be chemically compatible with both the
propellants.
 This gas generator lowers the Ignition start period of the engine
18.FUTURE APPLICATION

 Pump based system weight and cost are low and it works as designed.
 Replace turbo pumps for spacecraft and launch vehicles at reduced cost
with increased safety and reliability.
 Next steps: – Team up with vehicle and engine builders to make launch
vehicle and space propulsion systems more safe, reliable and
affordable.
19. CONCLUSION

 The most significance of property of Piston less pump that makes

them different from that of turbo pump , is the absence of piston.
 This is the most unique technique. In this ,no. of rotating parts is very
less as compared to that of turbo pump. Also, it’s installation is very
easy. and moreover, it is light weight than turbo pump. So, it has less
losses and improves, rather increases efficiency of engine. Also, it is
much economical than turbo pump.
20. QUERY

THANK YOU
&
QUERY