Gas Turbine Pre-Compressor Cooling Using Water and Oxidizer Injection for Small Access to Space Vehicles

"The development of a pre-compressor mass injection system for extending the flight Mach number and altitude of conventional military afterburning turbo jet and turbofan engines is proposed. The injection of water and liquid oxidizer such as liquid oxygencan be used to enhance the performance of these engines so that they may power the reusable air-breathing first stage of a space access vehicle. The fluid injected into the inlet may serve three purposes. First, it can cool the air entering thecompressor so that the engine may be operated to higher flight Mach number. Second, it can increase the net mass flow through the inlet so that the engine can generate more thrust. Third, it can provide additional oxidizer so that additional fuel can beadded in the engine afterburner further augmenting the engine thrust. It is anticipated that the coolant injected upstream of the compressor may be vaporized before entering the compressor face. This minimizes the effect of the coolant injection systemon the engine operation thereby simplifying the development effort."