The Methane-Acetylene Cycle Aerospace Plane: A potential option for inexpensive Earth to orbit transportation

Methane, a cheap, soft cryogen with six times the density of hydrogen could be an ideal fuel for use in a hypersonic aerospace plane. However, it does not burn fast enough for efficient scramjet operation and it possesses an inadequate thermal heat sink to cool the aircraft effectively. This paper proposes a concept, termed the Methane-Acetylene Cycle Aerospace Plane (MACASP), that may overcome these difficulties. In the MACASP concept, methane fuel is run out within the wing leading edge in pipes which are allowed to rise in temperature to about 1800 K. Drag heating is used to drive the highly endothermic chemical reaction; 2CH4 = 3H2 + C2H2. The reaction occurs on a millisecond time scale and endows the methane with a heat sink per unit mass comparable to that possessed by liquid hydrogen. The reaction products are fed into a combustion chamber and burned in air, releasing as much energy per unit mass at as rapid a combustion rate as hydrogen. This paper explores the thermodynamics of the MACASP concept and theoretical feasibility is demonstrated. Potential problems and areas of concern are identified. A conceptual point design for a MACASP vehicle is advanced and mission analysis performed comparing the MACASP to a conventional hydrogen aerospace plane. It is shown that the MACASP concept offers significant promise for economical Earth to orbit transportation.