EXPERIMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION OF A 15KN LOX/LNG REGENERATIVELY COOLED THRUST CHAMBER WITH PROPELLANT TEMPERATURE VARIATION

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an experimental test campaign conducted to evaluate the performance of the Huracan LOX/LNG rocket engine’s thrust chamber, developed as part of the Nyx Moon vehicle by The Exploration Company, which is a modular, reusable, and refillable space vehicle designed for lunar missions. The third iteration of the Huracan thrust chamber is tested at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Lampoldshausen, with support from the European Space Agency (ESA). The test campaign accumulated over 600 seconds of hot-fire testing, with a single test lasting more than 2 minutes. The campaign focuses on the influence of methane injection temperature, controlled by mixing gaseous methane at ambient temperature with cryogenic liquid methane. Variations in chamber pressure and mixture ratio are also investigated. The study aims to assess injector performance, with specific emphasis on combustion efficiency and heat transfer. The results indicate that colder methane temperatures lead to significant reductions in combustion efficiency, due to lower momentum flux ratios and Weber number. Furthermore, a 1D regenerative cooling model is calibrated using the experimental data. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of injector performance and cooling system modelling of the Huracan engine.