(245a) Measurements and Modeling of the Density and Viscosity of Rocket Propellant RP-2 at Temperatures to 300 oc and Pressures to 100 Mpa

Liquid rocket propellants are subject to wide ranges of temperature and pressure when flowing through high performance liquid rocket engines. For example, because a rocket propellant (RP) is used for regenerative cooling, near-wall fluid temperatures can exceed 425 ^oC. The pressure can reach values as great as 100 MPa when exiting the fuel pump. Hence, accurate thermophysical property data, particularly density and viscosity, are required to accurately model the flow in rocket engines using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools; account for property impacts on engine component performance; and perform system analysis. In this work, we measured the density and viscosity of two RP-2 fuels at temperatures to 300 ^oC and pressures to 100 MPa. A high-temperature, high-pressure (HTHP) variable-volume, windowed densimeter is used to determine the density. The viscosity measurements are carried out with a floating-piston, variable-volume, windowed, close-clearance rolling-ball viscometer. The experimental density data are satisfactorily correlated by the modified Tait equation that provides a means for interpolating the density within the experimental conditions investigated in this study. The HTHP perturbed-chain statistical associating fluid theory (PC-SAFT) and the HTHP volume-translated PR equation of state are used to model RP-2 density over wide ranges of temperature and pressure. The viscosity data are correlated by a nonlinear surface fit as a simultaneous function of temperature and pressure, mainly for the purpose of interpolation. In addition, the RP-2 viscosity is modeled with a modified version of Vogel-Fulcher-Tamman (MVFT) equation and free volume theory (FVT) model. These models are described in this talk.