Integrated Pressure-Fed Liquid Oxygen / Methane Propulsion Systems - Morpheus Experience, MARE, and Future Applications

Hurlbert, Eric A.; Morehead, Robert L.; Melcher, John C.; Atwell, Matt

doi:10.2514/6.2016-4681

Cited by 14 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…The Morpheus project also did some ignition work, first started under the PCAD project, as part of the larger program effort. Specifically looking at developing a reaction control system for Morpheus, work at Johnson Space Center 3,12,13 investigated ignition of an in-house designed RCS engine, developed from the 870-lbf (3870-N) RCS work by Hurlbert et al 4 This in-house designed RCS engine utilized an integrated igniter, and was developing a coil-on-plug compact-style exciter system. Ground and flight tests showed successful firing of the RCS engines using the new igniter, and the system was later demonstrated as part of the Integrated Cryogenic Propulsion Test Article (ICPTA) in vacuum condtions, with the coil-on-plug exciter, earlier in 2017 as part of a vacuum facility operations test at NASA GRC's In-Space Propulsion (ISP, formerly: B-2) facility at Plum Brook Station.…”

Section: Brief History Of Methane Spark Ignition Work At Nasamentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of Augmented Spark Impinging Igniter System for Methane Engines

Marshall

Osborne

Greene

2017

53rd AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference

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The Lunar Cargo Transportation and Landing by Soft Touchdown (Lunar CATALYST) program is establishing multiple no-funds-exchanged Space Act Agreement (SAA) partnerships with U.S. private sector entities. The purpose of this program is to encourage the development of robotic lunar landers that can be integrated with U.S. commercial launch capabilities to deliver payloads to the lunar surface. As part of the efforts in Lander Technologies, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is developing liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid methane (LCH4) engine technology to share with the Lunar CATALYST partners. Liquid oxygen and liquid methane propellants are attractive owing to their relatively high specific impulse for chemical propulsion systems, modest storage requirements, and adaptability to NASA's Journey to Mars plans. Methane has also been viewed as a possible propellant choice for lunar missions, owing to the performance benefits and as a technology development stepping stone to Martian missions. However, in the development of methane propulsion, methane ignition has historically been viewed as a high risk area in the development of such an engine. A great deal of work has been conducted in the past decade devoted to risk reduction in LOX/LCH4 ignition. This paper will review and summarize the history and results of LOX/LCH4 ignition programs conducted at NASA. More recently, a NASA-developed Augmented Spark Impinging (ASI) igniter body, which utilizes a conventional spark exciter system, is being tested with LOX/LCH4 to help support internal and commercial engine development programs, such as those in Lunar CATALYST. One challenge with spark exciter systems, especially at altitude conditions, is the ignition lead that transmits the high voltage pulse from the exciter to the spark igniter (spark plug). The ignition lead can be prone to corona discharge, reducing the energy delivered by the spark and potentially causing non-ignition events. For the current work, a commercial compact exciter system, which eliminates this high voltage cabling, was tested at altitude conditions. A modified, conventional exciter system with an improved ignition lead was also recently tested at altitude conditions. This test program demonstrated the capability of these exciter systems to operate at altitude. While more extensive testing may be required, these systems or similar ones may be used for future NASA and commercial engine programs.

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Section: Brief History Of Methane Spark Ignition Work At Nasamentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of Augmented Spark Impinging Igniter System for Methane Engines

Marshall

Osborne

Greene

2017

53rd AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The resulting COPV volume requirement was 5.8 ft 3 for the cold storage configuration and 12.8 ft 3 for the ambient storage configuration, translating into an overall vehicle dry mass reduction of roughly 78 lbm from an ambient to cold helium system. A similar but more detailed trade was performed for the MARE spacecraft design 4 , resulting in a 66 lbm dry mass reduction versus an ambient storage system. This resulted in a large improvement in useful payload mass for this small science mission (approximately 40%).…”

Section: Pressurization System Performance Metricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The vehicle test bed provides an operational test platform complete with propellant tanks, feedsystems, a throttling main engine, reaction control system (RCS), and avionics for control and data acquisition. The previous ground and flight testing of the Morpheus test bed in 2013-2014 was conducted without an active pressurization system 4 (i.e. in blowdown mode).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cold Helium Pressurization for Liquid Oxygen / Liquid Methane Propulsion Systems: Fully-Integrated Initial Hot-Fire Test Results

Morehead

Atwell²,

Melcher³

et al. 2016

52nd AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference

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A prototype cold helium active pressurization system was incorporated into an existing liquid oxygen (LOX) / liquid methane (LCH4) prototype planetary lander and hot-fire tested to collect vehicle-level performance data. Results from this hot-fire test series were used to validate integrated models of the vehicle helium and propulsion systems and demonstrate system effectiveness for a throttling lander. Pressurization systems vary greatly in complexity and efficiency between vehicles, so a pressurization performance metric was also developed as a means to compare different active pressurization schemes. This implementation of an active repress system is an initial sizing draft. Refined implementations will be tested in the future, improving the general knowledge base for a cryogenic lander-based cold helium system.

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“…This engine was included in the test series since it represents a more applicable thrust level for a spacecraft of this size. 2 Both engines are film-cooled and capable of limited duration gas-gas and gas-liquid operation, as well as steady-state liquid-liquid operation.…”

Section: Reaction Control System Design and Test Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…fuel cells, life support), and in-situ resource utilization compatibility. 2 Many of the technology risks identified with the propellant combination pertain to Reaction Control System (RCS) applications. To date, no cryogenic RCS has flown in space, and integrated system-level testing in a thermal vacuum environment has not been performed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of a Pressure-Fed LOX/LCH4 Reaction Control System Under Simulated Altitude and Thermal Vacuum Conditions

Atwell

Melcher²,

Hurlbert³

et al. 2017

53rd AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference

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A liquid oxygen (LOX)/liquid methane (LCH4) Reaction Control System (RCS) was tested at NASA Glenn Research Center's Plum Brook Station in the Spacecraft PropulsionResearch Facility (B-2) under simulated altitude and thermal vacuum conditions. The RCS is a subsystem of the Integrated Cryogenic Propulsion Test Article (ICPTA) and was initially developed under Project Morpheus. Composed of two 28 lbf-thrust and two 7 lbf-thrust engines, the RCS is fed in parallel with the ICPTA main engine from four propellant tanks. Forty tests consisting of 1,010 individual thruster pulses were performed across 6 different test days. Major test objectives were focused on system dynamics, and included characterization of fluid transients, manifold priming, manifold thermal conditioning, Thermodynamic Vent System (TVS) performance, and main engine/RCS interaction. Peak surge pressures from valve opening and closing events were examined. It was determined that these events were impacted significantly by vapor cavity formation and collapse. In most cases, the valve opening transient was more severe than the valve closing. Under thermal vacuum conditions it was shown that TVS operation is unnecessary to maintain liquid conditions at the thruster inlets. However, under higher heat leak environments, the RCS can still be operated in a self-conditioning mode without overboard TVS venting, contingent upon a sufficient duty cycle and the engines managing a range of potentially severe thermal transients. Lastly, the engines experienced significant ignition problems during testing under cold thermal conditions. Successful ignition was demonstrated only after warming the thruster bodies with a gaseous nitrogen purge to an intermediate temperature. Nomenclature

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Integrated Pressure-Fed Liquid Oxygen / Methane Propulsion Systems - Morpheus Experience, MARE, and Future Applications

Cited by 14 publications

References 5 publications

Development of Augmented Spark Impinging Igniter System for Methane Engines

Development of Augmented Spark Impinging Igniter System for Methane Engines

Cold Helium Pressurization for Liquid Oxygen / Liquid Methane Propulsion Systems: Fully-Integrated Initial Hot-Fire Test Results

Characterization of a Pressure-Fed LOX/LCH4 Reaction Control System Under Simulated Altitude and Thermal Vacuum Conditions

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