Related Projects: Nitrous Model, Nitrous Run Valve, Nitrous Tank (23/24)
Role: Responsible Engineer, Scope Owner
Duration: September 2023 – May 2024
Requirements: Develop a nitrous oxide blowdown system compliant with FAR-OUT rules for safe abort modes. See Nitrous Model for blowdown analysis.
Summary: The piping and instrumentation diagram for the 2023/24 feed system is given below.
The system largely operated as expected during cold flows and static fires, with most iteration focused on development of the pneumatic valve. However, at launch the pyrotechnic quick-disconnect physically impacted the servo-actuated ball valve, forcing it open and creating a leak. Fortunately, the leak was slow enough that we were able to launch at a partial oxidizer load.
I learned how important integrated testing is, that two independent systems that both pass testing can interact in unanticipated ways and induce a failure. I took that lesson forward into the development of our LOX system.