870lbf Reaction Control System Tests Using LOx/Ethanol and LOx/Methane at White Sands Test Facility

Villemarette, Mark; Hurlbert, Eric A.; Angstadt, Tara; Collins, Jacob; Peters, Todd E.; Allred, Jennifer K.; Mahoney, James

doi:10.2514/6.2008-5247

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…Hurlbert et al 4 investigated LOX/LCH4 for RCS applications by testing a commercially developed LOX/ethanol igniter assembly from an 870-lbf (3870-N) engine, using LOX/LCH4. The hardware examined was originally developed as a non-toxic/high performance upgrade for the Space Shuttle Reaction Control System (RCS), and originally used liquid oxygen/ethanol.…”

Section: Brief History Of Methane Spark Ignition Work At Nasamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While the broad scope of PCAD work did not observe any issues with hardware or designs for long duration applications, some tests did see issues with spark plug durability and reliability of exciter units under vacuum. 4,5 Effort during PCAD also examined the development of compact exciter units which would replace the exciter box and high voltage lead to the spark plug. 5,10 Exciter units developed by commercial vendors as well as Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) ventures were tested.…”

Section: Brief History Of Methane Spark Ignition Work At Nasamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Morpheus project also did some ignition work, first started under the PCAD project, as part of the larger program effort. Specifically looking at developing a reaction control system for Morpheus, work at Johnson Space Center 3,12,13 investigated ignition of an in-house designed RCS engine, developed from the 870-lbf (3870-N) RCS work by Hurlbert et al 4 This in-house designed RCS engine utilized an integrated igniter, and was developing a coil-on-plug compact-style exciter system. Ground and flight tests showed successful firing of the RCS engines using the new igniter, and the system was later demonstrated as part of the Integrated Cryogenic Propulsion Test Article (ICPTA) in vacuum condtions, with the coil-on-plug exciter, earlier in 2017 as part of a vacuum facility operations test at NASA GRC's In-Space Propulsion (ISP, formerly: B-2) facility at Plum Brook Station.…”

Section: Brief History Of Methane Spark Ignition Work At Nasamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This highvoltage lead is susceptible to corona discharge at low pressures, thus reducing the power delivered to the spark igniter and risking non-ignition events. [2][3][4] Two candidate exciter units have been identified for the current test series; one unit is a compact-style unit, while the second unit is a conventional-style unit that has an improved seal around the high-voltage lead. Neither unit has been tested in vacuum under operational conditions.…”

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Development of Augmented Spark Impinging Igniter System for Methane Engines

Marshall

Osborne

Greene

2017

53rd AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference

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The Lunar Cargo Transportation and Landing by Soft Touchdown (Lunar CATALYST) program is establishing multiple no-funds-exchanged Space Act Agreement (SAA) partnerships with U.S. private sector entities. The purpose of this program is to encourage the development of robotic lunar landers that can be integrated with U.S. commercial launch capabilities to deliver payloads to the lunar surface. As part of the efforts in Lander Technologies, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is developing liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid methane (LCH4) engine technology to share with the Lunar CATALYST partners. Liquid oxygen and liquid methane propellants are attractive owing to their relatively high specific impulse for chemical propulsion systems, modest storage requirements, and adaptability to NASA's Journey to Mars plans. Methane has also been viewed as a possible propellant choice for lunar missions, owing to the performance benefits and as a technology development stepping stone to Martian missions. However, in the development of methane propulsion, methane ignition has historically been viewed as a high risk area in the development of such an engine. A great deal of work has been conducted in the past decade devoted to risk reduction in LOX/LCH4 ignition. This paper will review and summarize the history and results of LOX/LCH4 ignition programs conducted at NASA. More recently, a NASA-developed Augmented Spark Impinging (ASI) igniter body, which utilizes a conventional spark exciter system, is being tested with LOX/LCH4 to help support internal and commercial engine development programs, such as those in Lunar CATALYST. One challenge with spark exciter systems, especially at altitude conditions, is the ignition lead that transmits the high voltage pulse from the exciter to the spark igniter (spark plug). The ignition lead can be prone to corona discharge, reducing the energy delivered by the spark and potentially causing non-ignition events. For the current work, a commercial compact exciter system, which eliminates this high voltage cabling, was tested at altitude conditions. A modified, conventional exciter system with an improved ignition lead was also recently tested at altitude conditions. This test program demonstrated the capability of these exciter systems to operate at altitude. While more extensive testing may be required, these systems or similar ones may be used for future NASA and commercial engine programs.

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Section: Brief History Of Methane Spark Ignition Work At Nasamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Brief History Of Methane Spark Ignition Work At Nasamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Brief History Of Methane Spark Ignition Work At Nasamentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Development of Augmented Spark Impinging Igniter System for Methane Engines

Marshall

Osborne

Greene

2017

53rd AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference

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“…The first engines tested were originally LOx/ethanol 870-lb f thrusters that were modified to accommodate LOx/LCH 4 . 1 The modified units were successfully tested on the Auxiliary Propulsion System Test Bed (APSTB) in the NASA White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) Test Stand (TS) 401. The proposed 100-lb f engine concept consisted of a compact integral exciter/spark plug system, a dual coil direct-acting solenoid valve for oxidizer and fuel, an integral igniter and injector, and a columbium chamber/nozzle with an expansion area ratio of 80:1.…”

Section: A Lox/lch 4 Reaction Control Engine Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Propulsion Risk Reduction Activities for Non-Toxic Cryogenic Propulsion

Smith

Klem²,

Fisher³

2010

AIAA SPACE 2010 Conference &Amp; Exposition

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The Propulsion and Cryogenics Advanced Development (PCAD) Project's primary objective is to develop propulsion system technologies for non-toxic or "green" propellants. The PCAD project focuses on the development of non-toxic propulsion technologies needed to provide necessary data and relevant experience to support informed decisions on implementation of non-toxic propellants for space missions. Implementation of non-toxic propellants in high performance propulsion systems offers NASA an opportunity to consider other options than current hypergolic propellants. The PCAD Project is emphasizing technology efforts in reaction control system (RCS) thruster designs, ascent main engines (AME), and descent main engines (DME).PCAD has a series of tasks and contracts to conduct risk reduction and/or retirement activities to demonstrate that non-toxic cryogenic propellants can be a feasible option for space missions. Work has focused on 1) reducing the risk of liquid oxygen/liquid methane ignition, demonstrating the key enabling technologies, and validating performance levels for reaction control engines for use on descent and ascent stages; 2) demonstrating the key enabling technologies and validating performance levels for liquid oxygen/liquid methane ascent engines; and 3) demonstrating the key enabling technologies and validating performance levels for deep throttling liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen descent engines. The progress of these risk reduction and/or retirement activities will be presented. Nomenclature C*= characteristic velocity EPW = electronic pulse width Hz = hertz in.= inch(es) Isp = specific impulse lb f = pounds force lb m = pounds mass L* = characteristic length min.= minutes o R = degrees Rankine sec.= seconds

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Kinetic mechanism for low-pressure oxygen/methane ignition and combustion

Slavinskaya

Wiegand

Starcke

et al. 2013

Progress in Propulsion Physics

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It is known that during a launch of a rocket, the interaction of the exhaust gases of rocket engines with the atmosphere causes a local depletion of the ozone layer. In order to study these chemical processes in detail, a chemical reaction mechanism of the methane oxidation appropriate for high-and low-pressure conditions and a chemical reactor network to reproduce operating conditions in rocket engines and in the environment have been developed. An earlier developed detailed chemical kinetic model for the high-pressure CH 4 /O 2 combustion has been improved for the low pressure and low temperature methane combustion and augmented with a submodel for NOx formation. The main model improvements are related to the pressure depending reactions. The model has been validated for operating conditions of 0.02 < p < 100 atm, 300 < T < 1800 K and 0.5 < φ < 3.0. The network of chemical reactors available in CHEMICAL WORKBENCH software has been successfully developed to simulate chemical processes in the convergent divergent rocket nozzle and in the exhaust-jet. Simulations performed have shown that the exhaust gases of a methane/oxygen propelled liquid rocket engine contain high amounts of active radicals, which can in §uence the formation of nitrogen compounds and consume ozone in the atmosphere.

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870lbf Reaction Control System Tests Using LOx/Ethanol and LOx/Methane at White Sands Test Facility

Cited by 4 publications

References 1 publication

Development of Augmented Spark Impinging Igniter System for Methane Engines

Development of Augmented Spark Impinging Igniter System for Methane Engines

Propulsion Risk Reduction Activities for Non-Toxic Cryogenic Propulsion

Kinetic mechanism for low-pressure oxygen/methane ignition and combustion

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