Electric-pump Rocket Engines: Comparative analysis of the electric-pump cycle using Rocket Cycle Analysis Tool (RoCAT)

The electric-pump cycle is a rocket engine configuration that uses an electric motor to power the pumps instead of a turbine. This offers several expected advantages such as simpler design, lower development costs, and easier restartability, but comes with reduced performance compared to conventional cycles. Previous research has primarily...

Aeroacoustic modeling of a LOX/CH4 rocket engine for high-frequency combustion instability prediction analyses

High-frequency combustion instabilities represent the main technical risk faced by design engineers when developing new chemical rocket propulsion systems. Such instabilities are driven by the coupling between the flames’ heat release rate and the combustion chamber’s acoustic field. As such, they can only be assessed during detailed design...

Preliminary design of a rocket-based combined cycle engine for application aboard Mk-II Aurora suborbital spaceplane

The rocket-based combined cycle (RBCC) engines are a hybrid between rocket and air-breathing propulsion. They can offer performance gains when compared to traditional rocket engines. At the same time, they are relatively simple in design. Therefore, they generally do not require long development times or large funds so they could be an...

Transient Thermal Modelling of Cooling Methods in Green Bi-Propellant Thrusters for CubeSat Applications: A numerical and experimental comparison of regenerative cooling and radiation cooling in a CubeSat scale propulsion system

The Dutch/New Zealand based aerospace company Dawn aerospace has developed a 0.5N green bi-propellant propulsion system for use in CubeSat applications called the PM200. This thruster uses gaseous nitrous oxide and propylene as propellants. Currently, the burn time of this thruster is limited to 10 seconds after which cool down of the thruster...

Cryogenic propellant tank pressurization

To launch a rocket to the edge of space using a pressure fed rocket system with liquid oxygen as propellant, you need to know exactly how much pressurant gas (helium) you need to take along. In this thesis a practical investigation on cryogenic tank pressurization is conducted together with DARE. The measurement results are used to validate...

Regenerative cooling analysis of oxygen/methane rocket engines

Methane is a promising propellant for future liquid rocket engines. In the cooling channels of a regeneratively cooled engine, it would be close to the critical point. This results in drastic changes in the fluid properties, which makes cooling analysis a challenge. This thesis describes a two-pronged approach to tackle this problem. Simple and...