SSME fuelside preburner two-dimensional analysis

Abstract

The flow field within the fuelside preburner of the Space Shuttle Main Engine is calculated using a reacting flow code (REACT2D). Inlet and modeling parameters involved in the numerical calculation are systematically varied to establish the sensitivity of the calculated exit temperature profile. It is found that differences in the inlet equivalence ratio have a large effect on the turbine inlet temperature profile. A variety of preburner inlet modeling changes such as inlet turbulence level, modeling the gases as burned, unburned, premixed, or unmixed, are shown to have a smaller effect on the calculated turbine inlet temperature profile. Also, the form of finite differencing used is shown to have an effect on the temperature profile.