• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.181-184
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• 2006

We successfully completed the development test for a 10-ton thrust liquid rocket engine using LOX+LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas, or Methane) with a high performance turbopump system. Resulting from the success of the regenerative-cooling capability using LNG, high pressure-generating capability and gas-generating performance, etc, methane engine with the product name CHASE-10 will be commercialized in the near future.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.120-130
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• 2013

A study was conducted for the performance characteristics of methane taking recently the limelight in the world as a next-generation propellant, with the survey for state of the art in the development of methane/oxygen rocket engine being accompanied. Liquid methane as a rocket fuel has the favorable characteristics such as non-toxic, low cost, regenerative cooling capability, and potential for in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). The combination of liquid methane and liquid oxygen also provides the excellent performance including high specific impulse and low system mass. For these reasons, many researches have been actively carried out on the methane/oxygen engine, nevertheless, its technology readiness level is not that high enough just yet. Therefore, it is judged that it is the time to mitigate the technical gap with the space technology of advanced countries through a swift onset of the development of methane rocket engine.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.877-880
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• 2011

A coaxial swirl/shear injector using GCH4/LOx as propellants was degisned and manufactured. Flow analysis by Fluent was performed to decide the number of orifice and the rear shapes of inlet orifice etc. Flow rate of the injector was measured according to differential pressure and uniformity of injector's spray pattern was confirmed by a patternator. The results showed that the difference of flow rate was around 10% and the spray angle of oxidizer was $66^{\circ}$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.658-661
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• 2011

A coaxial swirl/shear injector using GCH4/LOx as propellants was degisned and manufactured. Flow analysis by Fluent was performed to decide the number of orifice and the rear shapes of inlet orifice etc. Flow rate of the injector was measured according to differential pressure and uniformity of injector's spray pattern was confirmed by a patternator. The results showed that the difference of flow rate was around 10% and the spray angle of oxidizer was $66^{\circ}$.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.63-71
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• 2017

Liquid methane ($CH_4$)/oxygen ($O_2$) bipropellants have been recently considered as a next-generation propellant due to eco-friendly and non-toxic properties, low cost and high performance. In this study, the combustion characteristics of gaseous $CH_4/O_2$ nonpremixed coflow flames in a model combustor with variation of internal pressure are investigated through measuring the combustion stability limits and visualizing flames. Results show that the combustion stability limits are extended and the reaction region is widened with increasing internal pressure of the combustion chamber for fuel-rich condition.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.1-7
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• 2014

A set of preliminary design parameters for the bipropellant rocket engine using liquid methane-fuel as green propellant were derived through a theoretical performance analysis. Chemical equilibrium analysis utilizing CEA was conducted for the prediction of combustion performance: combustion characteristics according to the O/F ratio and chamber pressure variation were investigated. For a determination of chamber-characteristic length, the vaporization time of fuel-droplet with various performance parameters was calculated by applying Spalding's 1-D droplet vaporization model. Finally, the preliminary design specification of methane-bipropellant rocket engine, which is to be performance-tested under the ground firing condition, was proposed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2010.11a
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• pp.577-580
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• 2010

Coaxial injectors using GCH4/LOx as propellants was designed with shear(gas)/shear(liquid) type and shear(gas)/swirl(liquid) type. Spray characteristics were investigated by cold flow test. Spray patterns of the shear/shear and the shear/swirl type injectors were like a spout of water and hollow cone, respectively. Atomization efficiency of the shear/swirl type injector was better than atomization efficiency of the shear/shear type injector.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2011.04a
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• pp.20-23
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• 2011

The spray and atomization characteristics of swirl coaxial injectors which use gas methane and LOx as propellants are investigated experimentally with a recess length variation. Mass distribution and spray angle are measured by a patternator and droplet size to find atomization characteristics are measured by GSV(Global Size and Velocity) system. As a result, when the liquid sprayed, the spray angle decreased and the atomization characteristic was improved with the recess length increase. When the gas and liquid injected simultaneously, the spray angle was decreased and the atomization characteristic was improved comparing to only the liquid injection.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.45 no.7
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• pp.558-565
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• 2017

Recently, there has been a tendency to lead the private sector in the launch vehicle market, and as the market has become saturated, efforts are being made to reduce the launch cost. Advanced countries in space development have promoted manned long-range space exploration plans. As oxygen/methane is more efficient, lower cost, and eco-friendly than typical propellants, and can be produced locally on an alien planet, it is the most suitable next-generation propellant to meet this trend. Now methane engine development is accelerating due to changes in international conditions and corporate environment. It is also expected to develop a methane engine in order to survive in this global trend and to keep up with the launch vehicle market in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.47-53
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• 2015

Design parameters required for Methane/oxygen bipropellant small-rocket-engine were derived through a theoretical performance analysis. The theoretical performance of the rocket engine was analyzed by using CEA and optimal propellant mixture ratio, characteristic length, and optimal expansion ratio were calculated by assuming chemical equilibrium. A coaxial-type swirl injector was chosen because of its outstanding atomization performance and high combustion efficiency compared to other types of injector and also a bell nozzle with 80% of its full length was designed. The rocket engine configuration with 1.72 MPa of chamber pressure, 0.18 kg/s in total propellant mass flow, and O/F ratio of 2.7 was proposed as a ground-firing test model.