Methane-Oxygen Rocket Engine for 600$!

What is it about?

In this paper, as part of the graduate course ``AAE535 - Propulsion DBT" project, team SpaceY designed, developed, and tested a gaseous methane-gaseous oxygen (GCH4-GOx) thruster to achieve a minimum average sea-level thrust of 200 lbf over a 2 second duration, while maintaining integrity and operability for a minimum of two test sessions. The success of the system was evaluated by the thrust achieved (highest average value over any two-second test segment) per dollar spent. The maximum allowable budget was $1500. An injector, combustion chamber, nozzle, and necessary peripheral equipments were designed in accordance with cost-benefit analysis to maximize thrust per dollar of the system. The system was tested at Purdue's Maurice J. Zucrow High Pressure Laboratory.

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Photo by SpaceX on Unsplash

Photo by SpaceX on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This paper is important because the team was able to demonstrate how a laboratory scale rocket engine can be developed with a limited budget and time constraint. We were also able to test the hardware twice proving its reusability and integrity! The project came as a great learning experience for university students who were able to get hands on experience on building an actual rocket engine and testing it too. It also made us familiar with design and test review processes that go in to any engineering field. Overall, it was an amazing opportunity provided to students at Purdue University. Check out our whole DBT Process for this project on youtube: https://youtu.be/-tQ9PIaby2E?si=lqgNMQy5_-RbtO0x