Design and install an upgraded propellant delivery system
University of Southampton x Rolls Royce & Maksymilian Augustyn
The rotating detonation engine (RDE) has emerged as a feasible design to employ pressure-gain combustion in a highly compact and energy-dense rocket engine. In an RDE, one or multiple detonation waves propagate azimuthally within an annular combustion chamber. The rotating waves are maintained by feeding fuel and oxidiser continuously from a plenum. The number of simultaneously propagating detonations in an RDE is strongly dependent on the detailed local injection conditions, and in general forecasting its exact behaviour is difficult. There are presently no models for predicting RDE propulsion performance reliably.
Southampton have recently designed a new modular water-cooled RDE rocket engine. This PhD project will design and install an upgraded propellant delivery system and then set up this new water-cooled RDE experiment in full. Different hydrocarbon fuels such as methane, propane and ethylene will be tested primarily with gaseous oxygen. Corresponding three-dimensional simulations with our in-house software AMROC will also be employed in this project to model the rotating detonation waves in the chamber and quantify the influence of non-idealities on combustion efficiency and engine performance, including turbulent mixing, heat loss and in particular wall friction.
Student: Maksymilian Augustyn
University Partner: University of Southampton
Industry Partner: Rolls Royce