Practical uses of liquid methane in rocket engine applications

Neill, Todd; Judd, D. C.; Veith, Eric M.; Rousar, D. C.

doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2009.01.052

Cited by 84 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Woodward's previous studies in shear coaxial injectors at high momentum flux ratios concluded that high momentum flux ratios produce shorter core lengths and that large fragments of liquid form from the shear coaxial atomization [5]. The data from this study confirmed these conclusions as shown by Figures 6, 7, and 8.…”

Section: A Shadowgraph Resultssupporting

confidence: 93%

An Experimental Study of the Effects of Plate Geometry on the Spray Atomization of LOX/CH4 in Uni-Element Shear Coaxial Injectors

Sanchez

Dorado

Ellis

et al. 2014

50th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference

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In the effort to advance the characterization of liquid oxygen(LOX)/gaseous methane(GCH 4 ) as a propellant combination for rocket propulsion, the Center for Space Exploration Technology Research (cSETR) has developed a set of shear coaxial injectors as part of a system-level approach to studying the behavior of methane leading up to its burning. This paper describes the experimental studies of liquid core breakup in cold flow using injection plates with variations in central post thickness and recession length to assess their effect on atomization. Shadowgraph technique was used to obtain core length measurements and compare them to previously published data and the Woodward and Davis core length mathematical models. The inlet conditions were selected to obtain mixture ratios in the 2-4 range and a wide range of high momentum flux ratios (30-150). Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was also used in the testing of the three injectors to assess the atomization performance. Results show that changes in central post thickness and coannular orifice recession length with respect to the injection plate have visible effects in the generated spray flow field. The observations from the recessed face plate suggest an improvement in the increase of combustion chamber length available for burning, one of the metrics for assessing atomization efficiency. Lastly, the observed behavior of the propellants supports classical liquid core fragmentation for shear coaxial injection, described as an atomization that results in large liquid structures rather than diffuse droplets.

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Section: A Shadowgraph Resultssupporting

confidence: 93%

An Experimental Study of the Effects of Plate Geometry on the Spray Atomization of LOX/CH4 in Uni-Element Shear Coaxial Injectors

Sanchez

Dorado

Ellis

et al. 2014

50th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference

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show abstract

“…Green monopropellants for space propulsion can offer reduced environmental impact and address safety concerns, an important challenge that is being addressed (Nosseir et al, 2021). In addition, space launch propulsion systems are under development by SpaceX (Raptor), Blue Origin (BE-4), and others that use liquid methane fuel (Neill et al, 2009;Boué et al, 2018) rather than liquid RP fuels, indicating that further innovation in conventional liquid-propellant space launch systems is coming in the near future.…”

Section: Space Propulsionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grand challenges in aerospace propulsion

Oehlschlaeger

2022

Front. Aerosp. Eng.

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“…For example, looking at the class of low-pressure/low-thrust upper-stage and deep-space engines, passive cooling systems, such as radiative or ablative, have gained interest in these kinds of applications. 5,6 Ablative materials provide a low cost, reliable means to insulate rocket engine components from high-temperature, corrosive combustion product environments. 7 Basically, these materials are characterized by the sacrificial removal (thermochemical erosion) of the surface material to divert part of the energy that would otherwise enter the underlying structure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ablative Material Behavior in Oxygen/Methane Thruster Environment

Turchi

Bianchi

Nasuti

et al. 2012

43rd AIAA Thermophysics Conference

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Ablative materials represent a low cost and reliable means to insulate rocket engine components from high-temperature, corrosive combustion product environments. Besides their diffuse application in solid rocket nozzles, their use also emerges as a valid alternative in liquid rocket engines. Together with the growing interest in oxygen/methane liquid rocket engines, these materials have gained attention as possible insulator for small upperstage engines or in-space thrusters. In this framework, a validated approach for the study of carbon-based pyrolyzing and non-pyrolyzing materials, together with a novel boundary condition developed to analyze the silica-based material behavior, has been used to numerically reproduce the material response in the highly oxidizing environment generated by the combustion of oxygen and methane. At first, the validation against experimental data of the silica-based material erosion model is presented. Subsequently, the behavior and the response of different ablators in a oxygen/methane environment is numerically investigated for a wide range of operating conditions. Commonly made assumptions in the simulation of the material response are thoroughly analyzed and a critical overview of the results is presented. Nomenclaturebinary diffusion coefficient, m 2 /s h = enthalpy, J/kg k = thermal conductivity, W/m · K N c = number of specieṡ m = mass blowing rate per unit area, kg/m 2 · s p = pressure, N/m 2 q radout = wall radiative heat flux, W/m 2 s = erosion rate, m/s T = temperature, K t = time, s v = flow velocity, m/s v = velocity component normal to surface, m/s * Ph.D. Student, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica e Aerospaziale, Via Eudossiana 18. AIAA Student Member. alessandro.turchi@uniroma1.it. ẇ i = species source term in control volume, kg/m 3 · s x = mole fraction y = mass fraction y + = dimensionless wall distance Subscripts c = charred state f = failed material g = pyrolysis gas i = species s = solid state v = virgin state w = gas properties at gas/solid interface Symbols η = outward coordinate normal to surface Γ m = mass resin fraction Γ V = volume resin fraction µ = viscosity, kg/m · s µ t = turbulent viscosity, kg/m · s ρ = density, kg/m 3 ρ A = primary resin component density, kg/m 3 ρ B = secondary resin component density, kg/m 3 ρ R = reinforcing material density, kg/m 3

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Practical uses of liquid methane in rocket engine applications

Cited by 84 publications

References 5 publications

An Experimental Study of the Effects of Plate Geometry on the Spray Atomization of LOX/CH4 in Uni-Element Shear Coaxial Injectors

An Experimental Study of the Effects of Plate Geometry on the Spray Atomization of LOX/CH4 in Uni-Element Shear Coaxial Injectors

Grand challenges in aerospace propulsion

Ablative Material Behavior in Oxygen/Methane Thruster Environment

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