Presumably liquid rocket combustion is never 100% efficient, so what proportion of fuel does typically remain unburnt, venting into the atmosphere, and does this vary for different rocket designs and fuel types - hydrogen, methane etc?
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$\begingroup$ Accounting for what is leftover in the tanks or only the one which remain unburnt after passing through the engine ? $\endgroup$– AntziCommented Sep 29, 2016 at 14:02
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1$\begingroup$ This varies for each engine design. An important factor is the mixture ratio, there's usually a slight excess of fuel over oxidizer. $\endgroup$– HobbesCommented Sep 29, 2016 at 16:39
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$\begingroup$ Yes Antzi, I was really thinking about how much ends up in the atmosphere, but perhaps sources do in the end? For hydrogen it's not a problem, but methane is an extremely strong greenhouse gas. $\endgroup$– Dent Arthur DentCommented Sep 29, 2016 at 17:13
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$\begingroup$ I think the incident of russian rocket falling up over canadian island/waters rich waters. The hydrazine in tank burnt up but it wasn't regular rocket. $\endgroup$– IsrorianCommented Sep 30, 2016 at 16:58
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I managed to track down one reference online, in the SSME (Shuttle) engine, which uses liquid hydrogen/oxygen, "two-stage combustion approximately 99.6% efficient"
http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2011/ph240/nguyen1/docs/SSME_PRESENTATION.pdf
Also see, Modern Engineering for Design of Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engines by Dieter K. Huzel