THE CHEMICAL KINETICS OF LOX/HYDROCARBON COMBUSTION

ANALYTICAL METHODS AND COMPUTER SOFTWARE ARE TO BE DEVELOPED FOR CHARACTERIZING THE CHEMICAL KINETIC MECHANISMS THAT CONTROL LOX/HYDROCARBON COMBUSTION IN ROCKET ENGINES. CRITICAL AREAS OF TECHNOLOGY ARE TO BE IDENTIFIED. AN INNOVATIVE AND HIGHLY GENERAL METHOD WILL BEAPPLIED TO MODEL LOX/RP-1 COMBUSTION AS IT OCCURS IN GAS GENERATORS FOR PUMP FED ENGINES. THE METHOD WILL THEN BE EXTENDED TO MODEL OTHER CHEMICAL NON-EQUILIBRIUM PROCESSES THAT HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AS IMPORTANT. FOR EXAMPLE, THE EFFECT ON PERFORMANCE AND WALL COOLING RESULTING FROM THE INJECTION OF GAS GENERATOR EXHAUST INTO THE PRIMARY NOZZLE BOUNDARY LAYER WILL BE INVESTIGATED. OTHER CHEMICAL KINETICEFFECTS TO BE EXAMINED ARE: SOOTING, IGNITION, OXYGEN-RICH COMBUSTION, AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN KINETICS AND MIXING. A GENERALIZED CHEMISTRY PACKAGE, AND AN IMPLICIT, STABLE NUMERICAL INTEGRATION PACKAGE, WILL BE USED. THE INTENT OF THE PHASE I EFFORT IS TO PROVIDE "PROOF OF CONCEPT" AND A STUDY PLAN FOR PHASE II. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT PHASE II WILL PROVIDE A VALUABLE DESIGN TOOL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF LARGE LIQUID ROCKET ENGINES. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THESE ENGINES WILL BE COSTLY SO THAT THE RESULTS OF THE STUDY MAY ALLOW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO ACHIEVE SUBSTANTIAL COST SAVINGS.