Gas Generator Cycle engines

The two gas generator cycles aren’t real. They are just known as gas generator. But you can tell from a picture or size or thrust weather it’s 1 or 2

@YaMomzBox420 yeah makes sense. It’s good on the computer too and as long as you don’t run too high graphics it runs pretty well

@Mustang51 just SR2. It was recommended to me by the google play at some point like a year and a half ago but I didn't want to pay for a game I didn't know anything about. More recently I watched Scott Manley's videos about SR2 and finally decided to buy it for this last Christmas. Only after playing for a bit and joining this community did I really find out about SimplePlanes. I'd like to try it too, I just don't have the space on my phone for 2 of these games

@YaMomzBox420 my YouTube recommendation section sounds identical to yours hahaha. Have you also been using SimplePlanes too or just SR2?

@Mustang51 lol it's so simple you can play SimpleRockets 1 on SimpleRockets 2 (someone's working on an mfd program that plays SR1 virtually in SR2. It's only a partial game so far, but it's crazy that it works at all!)

Also, I've been watching Everyday Astronaut and Scott Manley for years now to get good info on space stuff. I also like the Angry Astronaut, but he's more like space-news and alternative opinions. Another good one is Smarter Every Day, I've been watching Destin's videos for years too, and he covers all sorts of stuff I'm interested in, especially aerospace and military engineering!

@YaMomzBox420 Hahaha yeah that makes sense. It's easier to try and simplify it so everyone can understand and enjoy it. I guess the name of the of the game is SimpleRockets after all

@Mustang51 I actually hadn't seen that video in forever and forgot about the other cycles when I first responded...but yeah, I think gas 2 is just closed cycle(but I can't say which one for sure without asking the devs).

And I believe that's just the names the devs went with? Idk, but it seems like they took a little creative liberty with naming certain things(although I understand why. Rocket science is confusing sometimes lol).

@YaMomzBox420 Also everydayastronaut and Scott Manley are my go to for any information about rockets but they just never mentioned Gas I and Gas II cycles (that I found at least)

@YaMomzBox420 Thanks for your reply! I understand the way the cycles themselves work and the differences between each one but I just wasn't sure about the difference specifically between gas I and Gas II. Gas II sounds a little like closed cycle (staged) but instead of being ox rich or dual shaft it's just the partly burned soot going into the combustion chamber. Did I understand that right? Thanks again for your answer!

For a waaaayyy better explanation with pictures and models and stuff, watch the everyday astonaut's video on the subject

So, you're talking about the preburner. Basically it's like a tiny rocket engine with a turbopump attached to the side of the main rocket engine. During startup of the engine, the preburner ignites first, basically behaving like a jet engine(spinning a turbine that in turn pumps more fuel through the system), and providing a steady constant fuel pressure to the engine.

Now, in order to not melt the preburner, you have to burn it fuel rich(oxygen rich is possible, but waaaay expensive and still tends to melt). Only a tiny bit of the fuel actually goes through the burner, most of it gets pumped past it to the main combustion chamber.

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There's a number of different engine cycles depending on the fuel/ox ratio, preburner size, turbine design, and general fuel flow. Fuel rich preburners for example tend to dump exhaust outside the engine(meaning a lot of partially burned fuel gets wasted), but some of them dump exhaust back into the combustion chamber of the engine to improve efficiency. Then there's full flow staged combustion(SpaceX Raptor) where you have an oxygen rich preburner and a fuel rich preburner that together use all the fuel/lox in the most efficient way possible(at least in theory).

I believe cycle 1 dumps the exhaust from the preburner outside the engine (Falcon 9 first stage), while cycle 2 dumps the exhaust back into the engine(many russian rocket engines as well as other more recent designs).