Abstract
A new expansion cycle scheme of the scramjet engine system including a hydrocarbon-fuel-based (kerosene) regenerative cooling system and supercritical/cracking kerosene-based turbo-pump was proposed in this paper. In this cycle scheme, the supercritical/cracking kerosene with high pressure and high temperature is formed through the cooling channel. And then, in order to make better use of the high energy of the supercritical/cracking fuel, the supercritical/cracking kerosene fuel was used to drive the turbo-pump to obtain a high pressure of the cold kerosene fuel at the entrance of the cooling channel. In the end, the supercritical/cracking kerosene from the turbine exit is injected into the scramjet combustor. Such supercritical/cracking kerosene fuel can decrease the fuel-air mixing length and increase the combustion efficiency, due to the gas state and low molecular weight of the cracking fuel. In order to ignite the cold kerosene in the start-up stage, the ethylene-assisted ignition subsystem was applied. In the present paper, operating modes and characteristics of the expansion cycle system are first described. And then, the overall design of the system and the characterisitics of the start-up process are analyzed numerically to investigate effects of the system parameters on the scramjet start-up performance. The results show that the expansion cycle system proposed in this paper can work well under typical conditions. The research work in this paper can help to make a solid foundation for the research on the coupling characteristics between the dynamics and thermodynamics of the scramjet expansion cycle system.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Bahm C, Baumann E, Martin J, Bose D, Beck R E, Strovers B. The X-43A Hyper-X Mach 7 Flight 2 Guidance, Navigation, and Control Overview and Flight Test Results. AIAA/CIRA 13th international Space Planes and Hypersonics Systems and Technologies, Capua, Italy, AIAA 2005-3275, 2005.
Marshall L A, Bahm C, Corpening G P, Sherrill R. Overview With Results and Lessons Learned of the X-43A Mach 10 Flight. AIAA/CIRA 13th international Space Planes and Hypersonics Systems and Technologies, Capua, Italy, AIAA 2005-3336, 2005.
Mutzman R, Murphy S. X-51 Development: A Chief Engineer's Perspective. 17th AIAA International Space Planes and Hypersonic Systems and Technologies Conference. San Francisco, California, 2011.
Edwards T, Maurice L. Hytech Fuels/Fuel System Research. AIAA 98-1562, Wright-Patterson AFB, USA, 1998.
Daniau E, Sicard M. Experimental and Numerical Investigations of an Endothermic Fuel Cooling Capacity for Scramjet Application. AIAA/CIRA 13th international Space Planes and Hypersonics Systems and Technologies, Capua, Italy, AIAA 2005-3404, 2005.
Fan X J, Zhong F Q, Yu G, Li J G, Sung C J. Catalytic Cracking of China No. 3 Aviation Kerosene under Supercritical Conditions. 44th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit, Hartford, CT, AIAA 2008-5130, 21-23 July 2008.
M.Hank J. The X-51A Scramjet Engine Flight Demonstration Program. 15th AIAA International Space Planes and Hypersonic Systems and Technologies Conference. Dayton, Ohio, 2008.
Heiser W H, Pratt D T, Deley D H, Mchta U B. Hypersonic Airbreathing Propulsion. Washington, D.C: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc, 1994.
Dufour E, Bouchez M. Semi-empirical and CFD Analysis of Actively Cooled Dual-mode Ramjets. AIAA 2002-5126, Atlanta, GA, 2002.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Foundation item: National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11272344)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wu, X., Yang, J., Zhang, H. et al. System design and analysis of hydrocarbon scramjet with regeneration cooling and expansion cycle. J. Therm. Sci. 24, 350–355 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11630-015-0794-y
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11630-015-0794-y