Open AccessNOZZLE AND CAVITY WALL COOLING LIMITATIONS ON SPECIFIC IMPULSE OF A GAS-CORE NUCLEAR ROCKET
Author(s) -
Albert F. Kascak
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
joint conference on sensing of environmental pollutants
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Conference proceedings
DOI - 10.2514/6.1971-1527
Subject(s) - specific impulse , propellant , nozzle , rocket engine , cavity wall , impulse (physics) , rocket (weapon) , materials science , coolant , liquid propellant rocket , rocket propellant , rocket engine nozzle , nuclear engineering , core (optical fiber) , mechanics , aerospace engineering , physics , nuclear physics , composite material , engineering , quantum mechanics
Experimental and theoretical study of the performance of a gas-core nuclear rocket, showing that in a uranium plasma nuclear rocket with an 8-ft cavity diameter the cavity wall can be cooled up to a power level of 7400 MW when the rocket operates at a pressure of 1000 atm and the propellant mass flow rate is 10 lbm/sec. A maximum cavity specific impulse of 5800 sec was obtained under such operating conditions. The fact that the wall heat flux was much lower for reactor powers below this level is linked to the presence of a relatively cool, opaque insulating layer of seeded propellant between the hot plasma and the solid wall. The additional coolant required for nozzle protection reduced the maximum cavity specific impulse to 5200 sec.
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