Tripropellant experimental engine

[Angeltxilon]

Hello, today taking a look at the wikipedia (yes, I get bored a lot, I know), I observed the tripropellant propulsion concept.

It not would the tripropellant rocket?

Of course italic voice, this concept is called tripropellant rocket.

A tripropellant rocket is a rocket or phase that use three chemical compounds to propel, normally these three:

- Fluorine, fuel (hydrogen) and lithium.

The tripropellant rocket concept is impractical because needing more complexity to support cryonic fluorine and hydrogen (fuel), and the molten lithium (this means more price).

Also waste is highly toxic and bad for the environment, but in Kerbal don't have plants or animals, only the green people, so do not worry. (forever alone)

This type of rocket would be extremely powerful, as well as the solid rockets, but controllable.

So, why not put this in the game (or in a mod)?

Incidentally, this type of propulsion would require a new type of engine, more resistent, this also implies the ability to add new types of hybrid engines (Tripropellant or Air-fuel, Tripropellant or Bipropellant, etc).

Information sources:

Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripropellant_rocket

NASA http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19690065139

Edited August 9, 2015 by Angeltxilon

[KrazyKrl]

NASA http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19690065139

I think I found the pdf referred to: Lithium-Fluorine-Hydrogen Propellant Investigation PDF And notes on page 78(Page 86 of the PDF), that a VAC ISP of 510s - 520s was observed.

Russia also tested a hybrid engine that burned a combination RP-1/LH + O2. In tripropellant RP1/H2/O2 mode... ASL: 3,300kN @ 330s (VAC: 4,000kN @ 415s) (H2/O2 mode: VAC 1,600kN @ 460s)

Edited August 10, 2015 by KrazyKrl

[Kaos]

Perhaps this engine can use oxidizer, liquid fuel and a to be named third component with higher Isp. To still have reason to use the other propellants, it might be, that the exhaust is extremely destructive and not producable from ISRU units.

[CaptainTurbomuffin]

We neither have tweakabls for fuel-tank types, nor a part searcher, so even witouth mods, we already have too many parts in the list. I haven't red the wikipedia, but as I got it, it's a poisonous, expensive mix, but it's as strong as SRBs. Well, SRBs are NOT efficient. Altough they mostly have a decent TWR, they are so inefficient that you can only use them in the first stages. The good thing in them is that they are dirt cheap. So, it would mean another whole set of high-TWR-engines, and another array of expensive fuel tanks to propel them? I'm not really up for it...

[legoclone09]

Hybrid Rocket Boosters? They are more efficient, throttleable SRBs. There's a good one in SETI and a procedural parts variant of them.

[Kuu Lightwing]

I think we should get a hydrogen engine first

[Tweeker]

I put together a work-able version of this by editing the .cfg files, However I'm no having much luck figuring out how to edit the meshes and textures of the engine to make it distinct from the stock version

[Tweeker]

I got finally got the mod made, It is super simple, 2 modded stock parts and a new resource. add 1 tank of the new fuel and the new engine to a rocket with a FL-T800 and give it a shot!

Feedback welcome !!!