Staged combustion cycle

<p>The staged combustion cycle (sometimes known as topping cycle, preburner cycle, or closed cycle) is a <a href="/facts/Liquid-propellant_rocket/TAonrVDn">power cycle</a> of a <a href="/facts/Bipropellant_rocket/TAonrVDn">bipropellant rocket</a> <a href="/facts/Rocket_engine/XT5gaFAb">engine</a>. In the staged combustion cycle, propellant flows through multiple <a href="/facts/Rocket_engine/XT5gaFAb">combustion chambers</a>, and is thus <a href="/facts/Combustion/ohQoWj8z">combusted</a> in stages. The main advantage relative to other rocket engine power cycles is high <a href="/facts/Fuel_efficiency/URhdQ7Wl">fuel efficiency</a>, measured through <a href="/facts/Specific_impulse/JKGgw2I4">specific impulse</a>, while its main disadvantage is <a href="/facts/Reliability_engineering/cd6AS5w3">engineering complexity</a>.
</p><p>Typically, propellant flows through two kinds of combustion chambers; the first called preburner and the second called main combustion chamber. In the preburner, a small portion of propellant, usually fuel-rich, is partly combusted under non-<a href="/facts/Stoichiometric_combustion/l2BGvlyw">stoichiometric conditions</a>, increasing the volume of flow driving the <a href="/facts/Turbopump/D6L2o2Yk">turbopumps</a> that feed the engine with propellant. The gas is then injected into the main combustion chamber and combusted completely with the other propellant to produce <a href="/facts/Rocket/b6j4keIl">thrust</a>.
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Staged combustion cycle open-in-new

Staged combustion cycle