Smarter Rocket Nozzles: Predictive Maintenance for Methane Cooling Systems
With new funding from the Swedish Space Research School (SSRS) researchers at KTH Royal Institute of Technology are taking the next step towards more reliable and reusable rocket propulsion. The project, led by Taras Koturbash and Jens Fridh at the Department of Energy Technology, focuses on something rarely visible – what happens inside rocket engine cooling channels.
Tell us about your initiative?
“Our initiative focuses on predictive maintenance and health-aware operation of methane-regeneratively cooled rocket nozzles. In these systems, methane in cooling channels can undergo pyrolysis which results in carbon deposition, gradually reducing heat transfer and increasing risk of thermo-mechanical damage, particularly in reusable rocket propulsion systems. The aim is to combine experiments, real-time sensing, and physics-informed modelling to assess cooling-channel health and remaining thermal margin and translate this into actionable maintenance thresholds and mitigation and control strategies”, says Taras Koturbash.
What motivated you to pursue this work through SSRS?
“SSRS felt like the right platform to turn the momentum from MERiT/MERiT+ into a focused PhD project with national impact. We already have strong results and infrastructure, but SSRS gives us the structure, network, and visibility to move from experimental findings toward methods that can actually support future reusable propulsion development,” Taras says.
How does this contribute to Sweden’s position in space research and technology?
“If Sweden wants to be part of future space transportation programmes, we need competence in enabling technologies—and propulsion reliability is a big one. This project builds expertise at the intersection of thermal management, sensing/monitoring, and manufacturing effects, and it’s rooted in Swedish collaboration, which makes it a real capability-building effort rather than a standalone academic study,” Jens explains.
What impact will your project have?
“On the technical side, we expect to deliver tools to detect coking early, quantify its heat-transfer penalty, and support condition-based maintenance rather than relying on conservative assumptions”, Taras says and continues: In the long term, that contributes to more reliable and cost-effective access to space. It also supports the choice for methane-based propulsion systems by helping manage realistic fuel variability in an engineering way.”
The SSRS project will continue the work of current MERiT/MERiT+ PhD student Jules Heldens, who has co-developed a real-time sensing approach for detecting catalytic methane pyrolysis, as well as a first step toward condition monitoring for rocket cooling channels; a necessary step in the development of future predictive maintenance capabilities. The new project will build on this progress by extending toward health estimation and support for operational decision-making for reusable propulsion systems
What are your expectations for the project collaboration?
The project will be carried out in collaboration with Luleå University of Technology and GKN Aerospace, bringing together leading expertise in materials science and propulsion research. "This is where the added value of the project emerges", Jens states and continues: GKN Aerospace with Jan Östlund provides the manufacturing and development perspective, helping define what is feasible, relevant, and usable in practice. The Hultgren Laboratory at KTH Royal Institute of Technology with Christopher Hulme strengthens our ability to characterize deposits and connect them to thermal performance, while Luleå University of Technology with Farid Akhtar contributes complementary expertise in materials for high-temperature and reactive environments. This combination ensures both scientifically strong and practically applicable results,” Jens points out.
What is most exciting about your contribution to SSRS?
“Honestly, it’s the chance to make something that is normally hidden, the degradation inside cooling channels, observable and manageable. If we can link real-time signals and validated models to practical decisions (when to inspect, when to refurbish, how to operate to reduce risk), that’s a meaningful contribution. The project is led by Jens and myself and it’s built on the broader MERiT/MERiT+ collaboration that has become an important part of Sweden’s space-technology research ecosystem,” Taras concludes.
Text and photo: Rita Nõu