Abstract
Methane is a promising propellant for liquid rocket engines. As a regenerative coolant, it would be close to its critical point, complicating cooling analysis. This study encompasses the development and validation of a new, open-source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method for analysis of methane cooling channels. Validation with experimental data has been carried out, showing an accuracy within 20 K for wall temperature and 10% for pressure drop. It is shown that the turbulence model has only a limited impact on the simulation results and that the wall function approach generates valid results. Finally, a cooling analysis is performed to compare two thrust chamber materials. A traditional copper alloy is compared to aluminium as chamber material for a small moderate-pressure oxygen/ methane engine. The analyses show that aluminium is a feasible chamber material only if a thermal barrier coating is applied. In addition, a significantly higher cooling channel pressure drop is incurred for an aluminium chamber than for a copper chamber due to the lower allowable temperature.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Proceedings of the Space Propulsion 2016 |
Subtitle of host publication | Rome, Italy |
Number of pages | 8 |
Publication status | Published - 2016 |
Event | Space propulsion - Marriott Rome Park Hotel, Rome, Italy Duration: 2 May 2016 → 6 May 2016 http://www.propulsion2016.com/ |
Conference
Conference | Space propulsion |
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Abbreviated title | SP2016 |
Country/Territory | Italy |
City | Rome |
Period | 2/05/16 → 6/05/16 |
Internet address |
Keywords
- supercritical methane
- regenerative cooling
- thrust chamber
- cooling channels
- CFD
- CHT
- copper
- aluminium