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Start of funding 01.01.2019
Combustion modeling and simulation of rocket engines operating with sustainable propellants
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Oskar Haidn
Technische Universität München
Chair of Turbomachinery and Flight Propulsion
Prof. Dr. Matthias Ihme
Stanford University
Department of Mechanical Engineering
In the past years, significant efforts have been placed in understanding the combustion properties of sustainable propellants for rocket engine applications with specific focus on performance evaluation and reducing thermal heating loads. According to the REACH regulation of the EU, hazardous chemicals such as hydrazine and its derivatives will no longer be available as propellants for space applications. One of the most promising alternatives is methane and oxygen, since it combines the advantages of great performance with low operational costs (not hazardous unlike hydrazine), low pollution (reduced emissions), availability and environmental sustainability (renewable raw material as biomethane or Sustainable Natural Gas - SNG). Due to the complicated chemistry of reacting hydrocarbons, the development and validation of advanced numerical methods for the accurate description of turbulent combustion within rocket thrust chambers is vital. The goal of this project is the development of new combustion models with the capability to predict combustion-physical processes that are unique to sustainable propellants such as flame quenching and conjugate wall heat-transfer, ignition, emissions and non-equilibrium gas-dynamics. The collaboration will also aim at improving and validating the existing framework for the description of turbulent combustion by combining the unique capabilities of each partner: TUM – experiments, Stanford University: advanced combustion modeling.