An Overview on the Turbopump Road map for the LUMEN Demonstrator Engine and on the new Turbine Test Facility

摘要

The liquid upper stage demonstrator engine (LUMEN) to be built at the German Aerospace Center uses the expander bleed cycle. The propellants for LUMEN will be liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid natural gas (LNG). The demonstrator will provide a test bed for future component development and it will be used to enhance the understanding of the operation of the complete cycle. In this paper we will give a short overview over the LUMEN Project and show the status of the LUMEN turbopumps development. We will highlight the possibilities for research on future turbopumps and turbopump components. LUMEN is designed to use two turbopumps with a focus to future hardware changes. For this reason the turbopumps will be built in a modular way, to allow easy changes in the pump assembly, the turbine assembly, the seals or the whole bearing and shaft assembly, etc. Part of the roadmap is the erection of a dedicated modular turbine test specimen (MTS) at the DLR. The MTS will make it possible to test turbine assemblies with a brake to measure the power being generated, flow coefficient, etc. The specifications of the turbine test specimen will be presented. The turbine test specimen will be suitable for turbines of rocket engines in the 80kN class.