REDTOP-Lite™

Why REDTOP-Lite?

Whether your focus is phase-A propulsion engineering, vehicle design, or technology prioritization, the ability to quickly predict liquid rocket engine performance can be critical. With REDTOP-Lite, you can obtain realistic engine thrust, specific impulse, weight, and nozzle geometry information based on just a handful of top-level engine design input parameters.

How does it work?

REDTOP-Lite analyzes the main chamber and nozzle components of a liquid rocket engine to determine the engine's operating performance and geometric parameters. The engine may be sized based on one of several approaches, including matching a specified thrust level, throat area, exit area, or total propellant flowrate. REDTOP-Lite really is “built for design”.

REDTOP-Lite's chemistry model utilizes a robust and industry-accepted technique based on minimizing the Gibbs Free Energy to obtain equilibrium combustion products quickly and with appropriate accuracy. The design of the equilibrium model makes it easy for you to add new fuels, oxidizers, and combustion products.

Unique Features

REDTOP-Lite offers several features that separate it from the competition and make it even easier for you to get the job done right.

REDTOP-Lite is built for design, and that means flexible execution options to suit your process. You can run a single case in the GUI, a batch operation from the command line, or tightly integrate the program in your design flow using the included Excel interface or our wrapper for Phoenix Integration’s PHX Modelcenter(r) product.
Built-in expert efficiency factors allow you to predict the real world performance of an engine - a step beyond the theoretical or ideal values that you might obtain from NASA's Chemical Equilibrium with Applications (CEA) code
Preliminary engine weight estimates vary with engine cycle, thrust class, chamber pressure, nozzle area ratio, and mixture ratio
An expandable propellant database means that if the default set of 11 common fuel and oxidizer chemicals doesn’t contain your desired species, you can simply add it

License Information

REDTOP-Lite software is sold with a perpetual license to use the particular version that is purchased. The perpetual license does not require an annual maintenance fee for continued use. Minor bug fixes may be released to all license-holders from time to time free of charge. License-holders may choose to purchase new and updated versions of our software as they are released.

System Requirements

	Windows
Operating System Requirements	Windows 7, Vista, or XP

Additional Notes	Run from a windows GUI or via command line
	Microsoft Excel-based interface option is also available for running the tool