NASA SBIR 2006 Solicitation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Combustion Research and Flow Technology,
6210 Keller's Church Road
Pipersville, PA 18947 - 1020
(215) 766-1520

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Vineet Ahuja
vineet@craft-tech.com
6210 Keller's Church Road
Pipersville, PA 18947 - 1020
(215) 766-1520

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
Simulation technology plays an important role in propulsion test facility design and development by assessing risks, identifying failure modes and predicting anomalous behavior of critical systems. This is true for facilities such as the proposed A-3 that will operate at low pressures in conjunction with steam ejectors and the B-2 facility where flame deflector cooling and plume impingement dynamics become important. Integrated analyses of facility designs that include supersonic diffusers, steam ejectors, valves, cooling spray nozzles and turning ducts will be carried out for both steady state operation and shutdown/startup transients. More importantly, predictions related to thermal and pressure loads on diffuser/deflector walls will be made and transient phenomena such as blow-back during shutdown and start-up blast waves will be studied. The proposed innovation expands on the multi-element unstructured CFD which has been validated for complex valve/feed systems and high pressure propellant delivery systems used in engine and component test stands at NASA SSC. The focus here will be on extending this capability to include advanced models for analysis of non-equilibrium two-phase flow dynamics and heat transfer in water injection systems in the flame deflector, steam loaded plume entrainment, chemical steam generator performance and operation of steam ejectors.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The proposed suite of computational tools developed here impacts a broad segment of the commercial market that includes the general area of rapid response control valves, and steam ejectors in industries as diverse as chemical process plants, manufacturing facilities and aerospace propulsion test sites. Our software can be used as a diagnostic tool in predicting system instabilities, and identifying dominant modes for structural excitation thereby improving safety in nuclear, aerospace testing and process facilities. The software can also be utilized for improving the design and efficiency of jet pumps, ejectors etc. that is beneficial to a wide array of applications ranging from refrigeration, air-conditioning, power generation, as well oil and natural gas extraction and processing.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The end of Phase II will culminate in a numerical simulation software (CRUNCH CFD^REG code) that would predict performance of key systems in high altitude test facilities for rocket and satellite propulsion engines, including colloidal/ion thrusters and nuclear propulsion engines, provide design support by supplementing current empirical rules, and diagnose system anomalies as well as evaluate transient performance. The technology developed here would directly impact analysis in the design and operation of test facilities such as A-3 for the upper-stage J-2X engine in the Ares 1 launcher as well B-2 for RS-68 cluster to be used in the ARES V. Direct analysis of propellant delivery systems, control valves, ejector systems and spray nozzle configurations can improve safety in the facilities and cut down on activation tests as well as assess risk potential for failure modes.

NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.