NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Liquid Methane/Liquid Oxygen Injectors for Potential Future Mars Ascent EnginesPreliminary mission studies for human exploration of Mars have been performed at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). These studies indicate that for chemical rockets only a cryogenic propulsion system would provide high enough performance to be considered for a Mars ascent vehicle. Although the mission is possible with Earth-supplied propellants for this vehicle, utilization of in-situ propellants is highly attractive. This option would significantly reduce the overall mass of launch vehicles. Consequently, the cost of the mission would be greatly reduced because the number and size of the Earth launch vehicle(s) needed for the mission would decrease. NASA/Johnson Space Center has initiated several concept studies of in-situ propellant production plants. Liquid oxygen (LOX) is the primary candidate for an in-situ oxidizer. In-situ fuel candidates include methane (CH4), ethylene (C2H4), and methanol (CH3OH). MSFC initiated a technology development program for a cryogenic propulsion system for the Mars human exploration mission in 1998. One part of this technology program is the effort described here: an evaluation of propellant injection concepts for a LOX/liquid methane Mars Ascent Engine (MAE) with an emphasis on light-weight, high efficiency, reliability, and thermal compatibility. In addition to the main objective, hot-fire tests of the subject injectors will be used to test other key technologies including light-weight combustion chamber materials and advanced ignition concepts. This paper will address the results of the liquid methane/LOX injector study conducted at MSFC. A total of four impinging injector configurations were tested under combustion conditions in a modular combustor test article (MCTA), equipped with optically accessible windows. A series of forty hot-fire tests, which covered a wide range of engine operating conditions with the chamber pressure varied from 320 to 510 and the mixture ratio from 1.5 to 3.5, were performed. The test matrix also included a variation in the combustion chamber length for the purpose of investigating its effects on the combustion performance and stability.
Document ID
20000004538
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Trinh, Huu Phuoc
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Date Acquired
September 7, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1999
Subject Category
Propellants And Fuels
Meeting Information
Meeting: Joint Propulsion Conference
Location: Huntsville, AL
Country: United States
Start Date: July 16, 2000
End Date: July 19, 2000
Sponsors: American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
No Preview Available