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I just love the throw it on the wall and see if it'll stick mentality of the NewSpace guys 
Usually rocket engines pump their fuel using turbopumps which are capable of pumping huge volumes, but are complex to design, expensive and notoriously finicky.
For the first stage of a large rocket there is no other choice, but XCOR and United Launch Alliance (Atlas V and Delta IV boosters) wondered about an alternative for smaller rockets like in XCOR's Lynx spaceplane or an upper stage: a piston pump.
Piston pumps are very well understood, highly reliable and cheap to build, largely being based on the basic tech used for terrestrial reciprocating pumps and auto engines. The real question was would it work with cryogenic fuels?
It appears to have worked.
Aviation Week link....
Usually rocket engines pump their fuel using turbopumps which are capable of pumping huge volumes, but are complex to design, expensive and notoriously finicky.
For the first stage of a large rocket there is no other choice, but XCOR and United Launch Alliance (Atlas V and Delta IV boosters) wondered about an alternative for smaller rockets like in XCOR's Lynx spaceplane or an upper stage: a piston pump.
Piston pumps are very well understood, highly reliable and cheap to build, largely being based on the basic tech used for terrestrial reciprocating pumps and auto engines. The real question was would it work with cryogenic fuels?
It appears to have worked.
Aviation Week link....
Xcor Aerospace has demonstrated that its piston pump technology can be used with liquid hydrogen, opening up potential applications for upper-stage engines, on-orbit propellant transfer and other uses.
According to Xcor, piston pumps cost less than traditional turbopumps, last longer and can operate over a wide range of speeds, pumping more fuel the faster they go. They can also start and stop quickly, says the company, which has built and flown a three-cylinder crankshaft pump on a 1,500-lb.-thrust rocket motor. Xcor did the demonstration under contract to United Launch Alliance (ULA).
Turbopumps are the heart of most high-performance rocket engines. They take the propellants and deliver them to the combustion chamber at the extreme speeds and pressures needed to generate the massive thrust required. But turbopumps are complex, expensive, and wear out quickly.
Now Xcor is developing bigger piston-pump-fed rocket engines for its Lynx suborbital vehicle. These burn liquid oxygen and kerosene, while Xcor uses liquid nitrogen for testing because it is safer. Then ULA asked if the technology could be expanded to liquid hydrogen, which led to a series of bench tests that indicated piston pumps could be used in cryogenic engines.
ULA says Xcor “has demonstrated the beginnings of an important technology development path†that could improve the competitiveness of future launch vehicles. Now Xcor is hoping its technology will find a place in ULA’s long-range product road map.
Credit: Xcor
According to Xcor, piston pumps cost less than traditional turbopumps, last longer and can operate over a wide range of speeds, pumping more fuel the faster they go. They can also start and stop quickly, says the company, which has built and flown a three-cylinder crankshaft pump on a 1,500-lb.-thrust rocket motor. Xcor did the demonstration under contract to United Launch Alliance (ULA).
Turbopumps are the heart of most high-performance rocket engines. They take the propellants and deliver them to the combustion chamber at the extreme speeds and pressures needed to generate the massive thrust required. But turbopumps are complex, expensive, and wear out quickly.
Now Xcor is developing bigger piston-pump-fed rocket engines for its Lynx suborbital vehicle. These burn liquid oxygen and kerosene, while Xcor uses liquid nitrogen for testing because it is safer. Then ULA asked if the technology could be expanded to liquid hydrogen, which led to a series of bench tests that indicated piston pumps could be used in cryogenic engines.
ULA says Xcor “has demonstrated the beginnings of an important technology development path†that could improve the competitiveness of future launch vehicles. Now Xcor is hoping its technology will find a place in ULA’s long-range product road map.
Credit: Xcor
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