Investigation of porous injectors for LOX/CH4 and LOX/H2 combustion at sub- and supercritical conditions

Kurzfassung

Two subscale combustion chambers have been used to verify a new injector design. Several tests have been successfully performed at high pressure conditions up to 80 bar using both LOX/H2 and LOX/CH4 propellant combinations. The injector features a porous faceplate made from sinter bronze. While liquid oxygen is injected using a classical parallel showerhead configuration, the fuel enters the combustion chamber through the porous faceplate. First, the flame stabilization has been investigated using a configuration with five LOX posts in an optically accessible combustion chamber. The second configuration consisting of 68 LOX posts distributed over the full injector face has been used to analyze combustion effciency as well as axial heat flux distributions.