ERPL Hybrids Team

A hybrid rocket is a rocket with a rocket engine which uses propellants in two different states of matter - one solid and the other either gas or liquid. The Hybrid rocket concept can be traced back at least 75 years.Hybrid rockets exhibit advantages over both liquid rockets and solid rockets especially in terms of simplicity, safety, and cost Because it is nearly impossible for the fuel and oxidizer to be mixed intimately (being different states of matter), hybrid rockets tend to fail more benignly than liquids or solids. Like liquid rockets and unlike solid rockets they can be shut down easily and are simply throttle-able. The theoretical specific impulse(I_sp) performance of hybrids is generally higher than solids and roughly equivalent to hydrocarbon-based liquids.I_sp's as high as 400s have been measured in hybrid rockets using metalized fuels. Hybrid systems are slightly more complex than solids, but the significant hazards of manufacturing, shipping and handling solids offset the system simplicity advantages.More on  Wikipedia.org

Currently ERPL Hybrids is split into two sections - the flight hybrid competition team and the newly-formed Experimental Hybrids team.
The flight hybrids team focuses on a competition sponsored by the Florida Space Grant Consortium to build a hybrid rocket of G-class thrust or lower and participate on one of two challenges: Maximum altitude and Precision altitude. The competition takes place in April at NEFAR's launch in Bunnell, FL.

Experimental Hybrids instead concentrates on research on hybrid motors themselves, focusing on experimentation with different fuels, grain shapes, oxidizer injector geometries, and other parameters to increase total efficiency. The group is currently focusing on systems design of a highly-configurable testing system for hybrids.