Numerical Investigation of Work Cycle Characteristics in the Combustion Chamber of a Lox/Methane Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engine Featuring Reductant Power Gas Combustion

Abstract

We performed a numerical investigation of cumulative efficiency and the structure in detail concerning the working process in the combustion chamber of a lox/methane liquid-propellant rocket engine operating in steady-state, boosted and throttled modes. In order to do it, we used tools developed by JSC SSC "Center Keldysh", that is, physical and mathematical models, numerical methods and software packages for numerical simulation of two-phase turbulent flows with combustion in liquid-propellant engine combustion chambers. The paper presents numerical simulation and investigation results concerning the specifics of fuel component flows, their mixing and combustion in the combustion chamber of a lox/methane liquid-propellant rocket engine using staged combustion cycle with reductant gas in steady-state, boosted (117 % by thrust) and throttled (30 % by thrust) operation modes. We performed a comparative analysis of work cycle parameters in combustion chambers at different fuel component consumption rates and pressure levels. The paper shows that the boosted mode increases the interaction of fuel jets, which intensifies mixing and burnout processes, while the deep throttling mode decreases the mixing and fuel burnout amplitudes as compared to the steady-state mode. The numerical simulation results may be used to investigate fuel combustion processes in combustion chambers of promising liquid-propellant rocket engines at the stages of development, design and refinement

Please cite this article in English as:

Sidlerov D.A., Fedorov S.A. Numerical investigation of work cycle characteristics in the combustion chamber of a lox/methane liquid-propellant rocket engine featuring reductant power gas combustion. Herald of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Series Mechanical Engineering, 2022, no. 2 (141), pp. 43--53 (in Russ.). DOI: https://doi.org/10.18698/0236-3941-2022-2-43-53

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