Gas generator rocket cycle. Some of the fuel and oxidizer is burned separately to power the pumps and then discarded. The gas generator cycle is a power cycle of a bipropellant rocket rocket engine. Some of the propellant is burned in a gas-generator and the resulting hot gas is used to power the engine's pumps. The gas is then exhausted.
The advantage of the staged combustion cycle is an abundance of power, creating very high chamber pressures and high engine efficiency at low altitude. It is also a simpler design than the (similar) staged combustion cycle. The disadvantages are lost efficiency due to discarded propellant and greater complexity than the other rocket cycles.
As in most cryogenic rocket engines, some of the propellant in a gas-generator cycle is used to cool the nozzle and combustion chamber, increasing efficiency and allowing higher engine temperature and efficiency.
The merlin rocket engine is a recent example of a gas-generator engine.
See also
External links
Rocket power cycles (http://www.aero.org/publications/crosslink/winter2004/03_sidebar3.html)
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