I Built A Hybrid Rocket Engine w/ Acrylic And Oxygen

YouTube Description:

I built a small rocket engine for demonstration purposes. The engine is built from a 2" diameter acrylic rod through which I drilled a 0.5" hole. The oxygen at 80 psi or less is passed through the hole and then is forced through a convergent-divergent nozzle at the tail end. The nozzle's throat is about 0.25" and expands to 0.625". I lit the engine by inserting a burning cotton swab (with wooden stick) while a small amount of oxygen was flowing. The acrylic catches fire very easily in a pure oxygen environment. The engine can be throttled and shut off completely, which is a major benefit to hybrid engine designs. Solid-fuel rockets cannot be throttled or shut off, which makes them difficult to control.
siftbotsays...

Promoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Monday, September 24th, 2012 6:17am PDT - promote requested by pumkinandstorm.

spoco2says...

So is my thinking correct that the acrylic tube itself is the solid fuel, so if you left it running too long it'll 'eat' through the containing tube and explode out the sides?

Cool little demo.

rich_magnetsays...

That's exactly right. Most hybrids used in HPR (High Power Rocketry) are sized so that there's not enough oxydizer to completely burn the propellant grain, which would then burn through the outer housing (usually metal).

There's also a lot more rocket science/engineering that goes into a good hybrid rocket, which this guy touches on. I'd never seen a transparent motor grain, however, and that's really interesting to see!

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