NASA STTR 2010 Solicitation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (SBC):		RESEARCH INSTITUTION (RI):
NAME:	Combustion Research and Flow Technology	NAME:	University of Alabama, Huntsville
STREET:	6210 Keller's Church Road	STREET:	Office of Sponsored Programs, VBRH Suite E12
CITY:	Pipersville	CITY:	Huntsville
STATE/ZIP:	PA  18947 - 1020	STATE/ZIP:	AL  35899 - 0000
PHONE:	(215) 766-1520	PHONE:	(256) 824-6000

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Vineet Ahuja
vineet@craft-tech.com
6210 Keller's Church Rd.
Pipersville, PA 18947 - 1020
(215) 766-1520 Extension :23

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
An orifice element is commonly used in liquid rocket engine test facilities to provide a large reduction in pressure over a very small distance in the piping system. Orifice elements are used in propellant lines, feed systems, plume suppression systems and steam ejector trains. While the orifice as a device is largely effective in stepping down pressure, it is also susceptible to a wake-vortex type instability and cavitation instability that propagate downstream and interact with other elements of the test facility resulting in structural vibration. In this proposal a new proprietary instability mitigation device has been developed that steps down the pressure, straightens the flow and suppresses all instability modes. The device is scalable and can be used for different mass flow rates and varying levels of de-pressurization conditions. It is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, easy to fabricate and install, and can be tailored to meet the performance requirements of a given facility. In Phase I, the device has been successfully demonstrated in a sub-scale cryogenic test facility. In Phase II the performance of the device will be calibrated for full-scale operation in a cryogenic test facility and a water test facility.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Orifice elements are ubiquitous in component test cells and test stands for liquid rocket engines. They are used in propellant lines, propellant conditioning systems, feed systems, water cooling systems in flame buckets and suppression systems to quench the flame. Instabilities that arise due to their operation compromise the safety of the test stands, increase loads on the test article, lead to premature shutdown of tests and cause costly delays. Such events have been observed at NASA SSC during J2-X testing, RS-25 testing, IPD LOX turbopump testing. The instability mitigation device developed in this program can suppress instabilities, substantially reduce risk and the likelihood of such events. The device can replace orifice elements in experimental/testing loops at NASA SSC/JSC/MSFC/KSC/GRC and Plumbrook. In doing so, this STTR program will directly aid NASA by supporting J2-X, RS-25, AJ-26 testing and the SLS and CCdev programs.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The commercial market for our product is very large and includes the commercial launch services industry as well as plant installations and industrial facilities that use extensive piping systems such as nuclear power generation, chemical process plants etc. The technology proposed here can play a critical and imminent role in addressing an important safety concern in pressurized water reactors where orifices are used in the emergency core cooling systems (ECCS) in conjunction with throttle valves.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (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.)

Acoustic/Vibration Characterization Cryogenic/Fluid Systems Fuels/Propellants Launch Engine/Booster Lifetime Testing Models & Simulations (see also Testing & Evaluation) Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE; NDT) Process Monitoring & Control Simulation & Modeling