CEA:

what is it and how to use it?

MAE 315 Aerospace Propulsion System

TA: Yongjun Moon

Content
Introduction
Background Theory
Example

2/19

Introduction

CEA is
Chemical Equilibrium with Applications
An open source code from NASA
three different types; original, CEAgui, and Online CEA

For more information

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/CEAWeb/index.htm

4/19

CEA can be used to solve

Chemical equilibrium state with assigned

Temperature & pressure (tp)

Enthalpy & pressure (hp)
Entropy & pressure (sp)
Temperature & volume (tv)
Internal energy & volume (uv)
Entropy & volume (sv)

And applications such as

Rocket problem
Shock problem
Champman-Jouguet detonation problem

5/19

For example
H2O2/Jet-A-1 rocket engine performance

Specific Impulse (sec)

220
210
200
190
180
170
160
150
0

10

15

20

25

Pressure (bar)

6/19

Background Theory

Chemical equilibrium state

Constant chemical composition with time
Forward reaction rate=reverse reaction rate
Different compositions with state properties

8/19

Criterion for chemical equilibrium

Minimized Gibbs free energy

9/19

How to minimize Gibbs free energy?

Gibbs free energy from thermodynamic property
coefficients of each element at an state
Minimization algorithm

10/19

Example

Stoichiometric reaction of H2/O2

1
100=p/atm

H2O

10

H2

Mole fraction

11

1
10

O2
10

100

100

0.1

0.01
3000

4000

5000

Temperature, K

12/19

Installing CEAgui

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/CEAWeb/ceaguiDown
load-win.htm
13/19

Execute CEAexec-win.bat

14/19

tp problem

15/19

Reactants setting

16/19

Products setting

17/19

Output

18/19

Assignment 3
1. Explain the reason why the number of input states
is two. (hint: chapter 1 of thermodynamics textbook)
2. Proof the criterion for chemical equilibrium. (hint:
chapter 16 of thermodynamics textbook)
3. Using CEA calculate stoichiometric reaction of
H2/O2, and plot fig. 2.13 and 2.14 from textbook.

19/19