Portable test stand for student liquid rocket engine development

A student rocketry team at the Australian National University has the goal of launching a liquid bio-fuel rocket to an altitude of 100km. The reference design for the launch vehicle calls for a propellant mass of 80-100kg, and a pressure fed propulsion system producing a thrust of 5-10kN. Hence, to enable development of the engine for such a vehicle the team have begun development of a test stand. In this paper a design is presented for a test stand that can accommodate accommodate engines up to 10kN of thrust and feed propellant of at rate of up to 6kg/s at pressures of up to 4.8 MPa (700psi). Standard industrial actuators and ball valves are used for fluid control which facilitate remote operation of the test stand including propellant loading and unloading. The entire system is designed as three separate portable units which can be moved on a trailer to the designated test site. The only requirement for the test site above the standard requirement for rocket engine testing is a concrete slab for the entire system to be mounted on.