An Overview of the Rocket Propulsion Research at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology

SPEAKER:    Victor Chernov, PhD
            Leon Sachs Post-Doctoral Fellow,
            Department of Mechanical and Industrial Eng.
            University of Toronto 

The Fine Rocket Propulsion Center (FRPC) at the Technion IIT is the only rocket-oriented university facility in Israel. This seminar aims at presenting the Technion and the work done in the FRPC. A short introduction into rocket and jet propulsion will be followed by an overview on the research activities in at the FRPC, such as marine ramjet propulsion, hybrid rocket propulsion and gel fuel ramjet combustor. More emphasis will be given to the gel fuels research. Gel fuel is a non-Newtonian, shear-thinning fuel that is obtained by adding gelling agents to a standard hydrocarbon fuel. The ideal modus operandi of such fuels is "Store as solid, use as liquid". Such a behavior allows for a more safer and more energetic performance. The reason for former is minimizing of involuntary flows and spills and the reason for latter is the possibility of adding metal powders to the fuel. However, this mode of operation presents new challenges in combustion, atomization and rheology, all of which will be presented at the seminar.

BIO:
Dr Victor Chernov graduated from the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering in the Technion, August 2010. He is now a Leon Sachs Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto. During his PhD, he was awarded the Ilan Ramon scholarship for space related research by the Israeli Ministry of Education.