Numerical simulation of liquid film and regenerative cooling in a liquid rocket

The numerical simulation of the liquid film and regenerative cooling in an LOx/RP-1 liquid rocket was conducted using time-averaged Navier–Stokes equations for compressible steady 3-D flow. The coupled heat transfers between the hot-gas, film, regenerative coolant and cooling channel were considered to be separated into two parts: coolant/cooling channel conjugate heat transfer calculation and the film/hot-gas side flow and heat transfer analysis. The results show that the method in this paper can simulate the heat transfer well, and the liquid film and regenerative cooling is an effective way to protect a thrust chamber wall. The liquid film cooling decreases the temperature of the inner wall and the heat flux transferred from the hot-gas to the regenerative coolant effectively, especially those of the throat. Moreover, the cooling effect of two rings of film coolant is better than that of one ring of film coolant.

► 3-D numerical simulation for the film and regenerative cooling has been done.
► Coupled heat transfer for hot-gas/film/regenerative coolant/channel was analyzed.
► The liquid film and regenerative cooling decreases the wall heat flux effectively.
► The cooling effect of two rings of film coolant is better than that of one ring.