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Coil-On-Plug Ignition for LOX/Methane Liquid Rocket Engines in Thermal Vacuum EnvironmentsA coil-on-plug ignition system has been developed and tested for Liquid Oxygen (LOX) / liquid methane rocket engines operating in thermal vacuum conditions. The igniters were developed and tested as part of the Integrated Cryogenic Propulsion Test Article (ICPTA), previously tested as part of the Project Morpheus test vehicle. The ICPTA uses an integrated, pressure-fed, cryogenic LOX/methane propulsion system including a reaction control system (RCS) and a main engine. The ICPTA was tested at NASA Glenn Research Center's Plum Brook Station in the Spacecraft Propulsion Research Facility (B-2) under vacuum and thermal vacuum conditions. In order to successfully demonstrate ignition reliability in the vacuum conditions and eliminate corona discharge issues, a coil-on-plug ignition system has been developed. The ICPTA uses spark-plug ignition for both the main engine igniter and the RCS. The coil-on-plug configuration eliminates the conventional high-voltage spark plug cable by combining the coil and the spark-plug into a single component. Prior to ICPTA testing at Plum Brook, component-level reaction control engine (RCE) and main engine igniter testing was conducted at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), which demonstrated successful hot-fire ignition using the coil-on-plug from sea-level ambient conditions down to 10(exp.-2) torr. Integrated vehicle hot-fire testing at JSC demonstrated electrical and command/data system performance. Lastly, Plum Brook testing demonstrated successful ignitions at simulated altitude conditions at 30 torr and cold thermal-vacuum conditions at 6 torr. The test campaign successfully proved that coil-on-plug technology will enable integrated LOX/methane propulsion systems in future spacecraft.
Document ID
20170004966
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Melcher, John C.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Atwell, Matthew J.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Morehead, Robert L.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Hurlbert, Eric A.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Bugarin, Luz
(Texas Univ. El Paso, TX, United States)
Chaidez, Mariana
(Texas Univ. El Paso, TX, United States)
Date Acquired
June 2, 2017
Publication Date
July 10, 2017
Subject Category
Spacecraft Propulsion And Power
Spacecraft Design, Testing And Performance
Propellants And Fuels
Report/Patent Number
JSC-CN-39660
Meeting Information
Meeting: Annual AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference 2017
Location: Atlanta, GA
Country: United States
Start Date: July 10, 2017
End Date: July 12, 2017
Sponsors: American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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