Vehicle-Level Oxygen/Methane Propulsion System Hotfire Demonstration at Thermal Vacuum Conditions

Morehead, Robert L.; Melcher, John C.; Atwell, Matthew J.; Hurlbert, Eric A.; Desai, Pooja; Werlink, Rudy

doi:10.2514/6.2017-4748

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…During the start-up process, liquid propellant flows into the components downstream of point G in ambient temperature, which produces two-phase injection and instable combustion in the combustion chamber of the engine [24]. Basically, this phenomenon could be avoided by chilling the components downstream point G before start-up [26]. However, in most cases, the feasibility of this process is determined mainly by the engine procedure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fill-In and Boiling Transition Characteristics during the Liquid Oxygen Chill-Down Process in a Vertical Exit-Contracted Pipe

Zhang

Wang

Chen

2022

International Journal of Aerospace Engineering

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Liquid oxygen chill-down in a vertical exit-contracted pipe was investigated experimentally. The wall temperatures were recorded in detail to describe the filling and chill-down process of the experimental section. Two quenching fronts, the exit one and the inlet one, were detected, and their propagations were found. Results show that the chill-down process is controlled mainly by the formation and propagation of quenching front, which are determined by the pressure level. With the increase of pressure, the roles of both propagation of quenching front and inlet quenching front undergo decreasing. On the vertical section, the effect of circumferential position was discussed in detail and the dominant point was identified, which determines the boiling transition time of the dominated points on the current cross-section. Based on the experimental data, two correlations were suggested for dominant point and dominated points, respectively, to predict heat flux on Leidenfrost, heat transfer coefficient on Leidenfrost, and critical heat flux. One equation was approved to predict heat transfer coefficient on critical heat flux point for both sorts of points. All of these correlations could produce reliable predictions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fill-In and Boiling Transition Characteristics during the Liquid Oxygen Chill-Down Process in a Vertical Exit-Contracted Pipe

Zhang

Wang

Chen

2022

International Journal of Aerospace Engineering

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“…A detailed overview of the test campaign and its objectives are discussed in Ref. 7. The primary test goal for the RCS was characterization of feed system fluid and thermal transients.…”

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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Liquid methane and liquid oxygen horizontal chilldown experiments of a 2.54 and 11.43 cm transfer line

Hartwig

Meyerhofer

Stiegemeier

et al. 2022

Applied Thermal Engineering

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Vehicle-Level Oxygen/Methane Propulsion System Hotfire Demonstration at Thermal Vacuum Conditions

Cited by 7 publications

References 14 publications

Fill-In and Boiling Transition Characteristics during the Liquid Oxygen Chill-Down Process in a Vertical Exit-Contracted Pipe

Fill-In and Boiling Transition Characteristics during the Liquid Oxygen Chill-Down Process in a Vertical Exit-Contracted Pipe

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

Liquid methane and liquid oxygen horizontal chilldown experiments of a 2.54 and 11.43 cm transfer line

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