Engine test facility - "Viererblock"
The engine test facility, also called "Viererblock", is located at the heart of the DLR Trauen site. This facility was built in 1962 together with other test benches and laboratories for researching rocket engines with solid propellants, monergol engines and hypergolic ignitable propellant mixtures and was used for engine tests in the context of the development of the European "Europa-1" rocket, among other things. The engine test facility consists of four test cells for carrying out horizontal engine tests as well as a centrally located control and steering bunker for the safe accommodation of personnel and measuring equipment during a test run. The cells themselves are cylindrical in design, which ensures optimum structural load distribution in the event of an irregular test run and enables comparatively quick repair in the event of damage. Two test cells were designed for engine tests with liquid propellants and are each supplemented by a supply and storage room for liquid propellants. The other two test cells were designed for tests with solid propellant engines. The entire plant complex is surrounded by a protective wall in order to limit possible damage events to the area of the plant itself.
The engine test facility is currently being used for tests with solid fuel and hybrid engines. Since 2012, one of the liquid cells, including the associated tank room, has been equipped with highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide as an oxidiser by the Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology for the operation of hybrid engines. The remaining cells are used by various internal and external clients, including universities and colleges in the context of DLR's STERN student project, for tests with solid-fuel and hybrid engines.
In order to establish the test complex for future engine projects in the context of "Responsive Space" and as a research facility for industrial engine developments, a comprehensive modernisation of the test facility was initiated. In addition to the general overhaul and modernisation of all system components, a high-performance control and measurement electronics system for the use of complex invasive and non-invasive measurement systems is being set up. The operational capacity of the solid propellant cells for solid propellant rocket engines will be significantly expanded in terms of usable propellant mass and thrust class in order to realise a test infrastructure that is unique in Germany.
Among other things, the protective wall will be raised further, an automatic fire protection and suppression system will be installed and the control bunker will be equipped with an independent air supply. A suitable design of the cell apron, in conjunction with the planned modernisation of the chemical analysis laboratory in the technical centre, will offer the potential to test modern exhaust gas treatment systems for large test benches in order to be able to meet all environmental protection requirements in the future. The necessary construction measures have been planned so that the test facility can be put into operation in the modernised configuration in the near future.