Three-Dimensional, Three-Phase Combustion

Seca, Inc.

Huntsville, AL

A computational fluid dynamics code has been developed to describe the injection of liquid propellants into rocket engine combustion chambers. Unique feature is the use of real fluid properties to describe liquid propellants as they combust to form gaseous and particulate combustion products. The combustion physics has been approximated such that flows from individual injector elements can be investigated so candidate designs can be evaluated numerically.

• Code describes high-pressure homogeneous and heterogeneous spray combustion processes; models RP-1, hydrogen, and oxygen propellants.
• Fastrac engine flow field analyzed to predict wall temperatures and gas properties in the acoustic cavity.  
• Have predicted performances of several candidate vortex engine designs.  
• Mixing efficiency for the Mars ascent engine evaluated.  
• Code has been “parallelized” to run simultaneously on several processors. 
• Phase III contract awarded for additional engine design and analyses.  

• Primary market sectors include government agencies and private companies that design and manufacture liquid rocket engines.
• Code has been used to analyze cryogenic regenerative cooling for Sierra Engineering, Inc; a strategic alliance partnership established with Sierra to pursue future work.
• Educational program in place for informing potential customers of innovation’s advantage over older technology.

 

• NASA has expressed interest in applying methodology to the GEN3 program.  
• Spray combustion models have been used to analyze experimental test results supplied by Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- and Raumfahrt (DLR), Office National d’Etudes et de Recherches (ONERA), Snecma, and Astrium. Results have been reported in workshops sponsored by these agencies.  

 

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