Journal of Propulsion and Energy ISSN:2734-1887(Print) 2765-0049(Online)

The performance of an expander cycle rocket engine that employs liquid methane as fuel was predicted in this study. The preliminary requirements of the engine were predetermined, and the specifications of each component were determined by power balance analysis with the given engine requirements. A thrust of 3 tonf was considered, and the cooling scheme was simplified to only use regenerative cooling. The cooling channels were assumed to be one-dimensional axisymmetric. The temperature change of the coolant inside the channels was predicted with heat flux analysis. The properties of the combustion gas were obtained by Chemical Equilibrium Analysis (CEA). Thereafter, a power balancing calculation was performed on the engine with 3 tonf of thrust, and chamber pressure of up to 30 bar could be reached. In addition, a study was conducted on the changes in the engine system according to the pressure ratio of the turbine.