Open AccessCRYOGENIC FLUIDS IN NUCLEAR PROPULSION SYSTEMS
Author(s) -
R.S. Thurston,
J.D. Balcomb,
G.P. Watts,
R.S. Pollock,
A.R. Lyle
Publication year - 1963
Publication title -
osti oai (u.s. department of energy office of scientific and technical information)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/4121427
Subject(s) - propellant , liquid hydrogen , specific impulse , nuclear engineering , hydrogen , propulsion , reactivity (psychology) , rocket (weapon) , rocket propellant , impulse (physics) , mechanics , nuclear physics , aerospace engineering , physics , thermodynamics , engineering , classical mechanics , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology , quantum mechanics
Nuclear rocket engines employ hydrogen, a cryogenic liquid, as a propellant in order to obtain a system with a high specific impulse. Since hydrogen is also an excellent moderator of neutrons, it provides a reactivity contribution which must be taken into consideration in the design of a reactor and in its programmed operation. The reactivity worth of hydrogen is a function of its density distribution. The prediction of this quantity was facilitated by heat transfer experiments, which were simulated on a digital computer. Pressure oscillations associated with the twophase flow of hydrogen were simulated by means of a spring-mass model. (auth
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