High-Fidelity Combustion Modeling for LOX/Methane In-Space Propulsion Systems

The objective of this research is to develop high-fidelity modeling capabilities to, for the first time, enable accurate and reliable prediction of propellant injection and ignition at low-pressure conditions to support the design of LOX/Methane propulsion engines for planetary landers and in-space reignition systems at NASA. LOX/Methane holds several advantages over the current LOX/LH2 engines because (1) Liquid Methane has higher storage density than Liquid H2, (2) Methane has a boiling point closer to that of Oxygen, which provides storage system simplifications, and (3) Methane can be produced in-situ from resources on Mars, making this technology specifically important to supporting future Mars missions.

The proposed simulation tool will be built upon the existing Loci-STREAM Computational Fluid Dynamics code which is already in use at NASA for the simulation of rocket combustion dynamics. A key innovation of this work is the novel extension of a multiphase diffuse-interface methodology to accurately and efficiently address the complex phase transition processes (liquid to gaseous and vice versa) encountered in in-space liquid rocket engines. This proposed methodology holds several advantages over the one currently implemented in Loci-Stream in both efficiency and predictive capability.

The proposed work will enhance NASA’s current simulation capability of unsteady turbulent reacting flows involving cryogenic propellants, in particular LOX/Methane. Building a robust low-pressure propellant injection/ignition simulation tool is an instrumental step in designing future LOX/Methane engines for spaceflight purposes because parts of the design process can take advantage of simulation data instead of expensive manufacturing and testing. As a result, the proposed work will contribute to the U.S.’s current effort in developing advanced propulsion systems to (1) reduce our reliance on foreign-made rocket engines and (2) facilitate future planetary missions, such as Mars.

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