Thermodynamics performance assessment of precooled cycle engines with ammonia as the fuel and coolant

To meet the demand for air-breathing power for wide-range vehicles at Mach 0–10, two thermal cycles with ammonia as the fuel and coolant were analyzed, namely the precooled rocket-turbine cycle (PC-RT) and the precooled gas-turbine cycle. Firstly, the operating modes of the precooled cycle engines were divided into turbine mode, precooling mode, and ramjet mode. Secondly, a fluid-structure coupling heat transfer program was used to evaluate the cooling effects of different fuels on the incoming high-temperature air. The result shows that the equivalent heat sink of ammonia is higher than that of other fuels and can meet the cooling requirement of at least Mach 4 in the precooling mode. Thirdly, the performance of the PC-RT in the turbine and precooling modes was compared at Mach 2.5. The result shows that air precooling alleviates the restriction of the pumping pressure on the minimum required β and improves the specific thrust within a reasonable range of β. Fourthly, the performance of the precooled cycle engines was compared when using different fuels. The result shows that the specific thrust of ammonia is greater than that of other fuels, and the performance advantages of ammonia are the most obvious in the precooling mode due to its highest equivalent heat sink. To sum up, the precooled cycle engines with ammonia as the fuel and coolant presented in this study have the advantages of no carbon emissions, low cost, high specific thrust, and no clogging of the cooling channels by cracking products. They are suitable for applications such as the first-stage power of the two-stage vehicle, and high Mach numbers air-breathing flight.