Rocket Propulsion Analysis Lite
Liquid rocket engine performance analysis
Description
The first question in any liquid rocket engine design is what specific impulse a given propellant pair, chamber pressure and mixture ratio can deliver, and working out the chemical equilibrium by hand is slow and error-prone. RPA Lite turns it into a form: pick the propellants, enter chamber pressure and nozzle parameters, and it uses Gibbs free energy minimization to find the combustion products and their thermodynamic properties, then rates the theoretical engine.
It is the free edition of RPA, free for every group of users, which makes it a good fit for students and amateur rocketry, or for a first pass before moving to the full version.
Engine definition: propulsion system type, chamber pressure, mixture ratio, and oxidizer and fuel components with their temperatures.
Thermodynamics: equilibrium composition and properties of the reacting mixture, with export of the results.
Performance: theoretical specific impulse, thrust coefficient and more from the nozzle flow model.
Two analysis modes: a full analysis with nozzle shape and efficiency, ambient pressure range and throttling, and an express mode for quick one-parameter changes.
Species editor: a built-in propellant library plus your own custom species.
Cross-platform: builds for Windows, macOS and Linux.
It is the free edition of RPA, free for every group of users, which makes it a good fit for students and amateur rocketry, or for a first pass before moving to the full version.
Features
Engine definition: propulsion system type, chamber pressure, mixture ratio, and oxidizer and fuel components with their temperatures.
Thermodynamics: equilibrium composition and properties of the reacting mixture, with export of the results.
Performance: theoretical specific impulse, thrust coefficient and more from the nozzle flow model.
Two analysis modes: a full analysis with nozzle shape and efficiency, ambient pressure range and throttling, and an express mode for quick one-parameter changes.
Species editor: a built-in propellant library plus your own custom species.
Cross-platform: builds for Windows, macOS and Linux.
