The study of high pressure expander cycle engine with advanced concept combustion chamber

Abstract

This paper discusses the feasibility of the high pressure LOX/LH2 expander cycle engine which delivers 147 kN of thrust at 9.8 MPa of chamber pressure with a new concept combustion chamber. The expander cycle has the advantages of high performance and system simplicity, but it has not been applied for high pressure engine due to the existence of an upper limit in the chamber pressure to be achieved. In the expander cycle engine, the maximum chamber pressure is dominated by the amount of heat absorbed by the regenerative coolant. The larger amount of heat exchange requires the longer combustion chamber under the usual idea, which causes a decrease of performance because of reducing expansion ratio under the given engine envelope or increasing vehicle length. In order to achieve the higher chamber pressure without any decrease in performance, higher heat exchangability in the chamber is necessary. We propose the new concept combustion chamber in which higher heat exchangeability is realized by having the additional heat exchanger installed within it. Preliminary tests for the internal heat exchanger and for the expander cycle engine will by carried out in 1985 by ISAS.