Extraterrestrial materials processing and related transport phenomena
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Ramohalli, K. N. R.↗
Engineering topics
Ramohalli, K. N. R.
Publications and source records attributed to Ramohalli, K. N. R..
Extraterrestrial materials processing and related transport phenomena
Several concepts for significant cost reductions in extraterrestrial resource utilization are described. After an introduction of the desirability of in situ resource utilization, several candidate chemical processes are mentioned. It is brought out that many of the key processes require fluid dynamics and heat transfer processes under reduced- and microgravity. These aspects are discussed within the broad framework of a two-phase thermal control systems. Another important aspect of space processing is that reliability and self-repairability are mandatory; automation aspects are discussed. In addition to these general considerations, the paper includes several specific processes that vary from solid electrolytic production of oxygen from carbon dioxide, to plasma-augmented reactions for reducing ilmenite on the moon.
Ramohalli, K. N. R.↗
Windowless High-Pressure Solar Reactor
Obscuration by reaction products eliminated. Chemical reactor heated by Sunlight employs rocket technology to maintain internal pressure. Instead of keeping chamber tightly closed, pressure maintained by momentum balance between incoming and outgoing materials. Windowless solar reactor admits concentrated Sunlight through exhaust aperture. Pressure in reactor maintained dynamically.
Ramohalli, K. N. R.↗
Coated oxidizers for combustion stability in solid-propellant rockets
Experiments are conducted in a laboratory-scale (6.25-cm diameter) end-burning rocket motor with state-of-the-art, ammonium perchlorate hydroxy-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB), nonmetallized propellants. The concept of tailoring the stability characteristics with a small amount (less than 1 percent by weight) of COATING on the oxidizer is explored. The thermal degradation characteristics of the coat chemical are deduced through theoretical arguments on thermal diffusivity of the composite material (propellant). Several candidate coats are selected and propellants are cast. These propellants (with coated oxidizers) are fired in a laboratory-scale end-burning rocket motor, and real-time pressure histories are recorded. The control propellant (with no coating) is also tested for comparison. The uniformity of the coating, confirmed by SEM pictures and BET adsorption measurements, is thought to be an advance in technology. The frequency of bulk mode instability (BMI), the pressure fluctuation amplitudes, and stability boundaries are correlated with parameters related to the characteristic length (L-asterisk) of the rocket motor. The coated oxidizer propellants, in general, display greater combustion stability than the control (state-of-the-art). The correlations of the various parameters are thought to be new to a field filled with much uncertainty.
Helmy, A. M.↗
Processing modifications for improved propellants - Coated oxidizers
The present investigation is concerned with a technique which makes it possible to improve greatly the performance of composite propellants by alleviating the combustion instability problem. The technique involves the coating of the oxidizer crystals (typically ammonium perchlorate) with a suitably selected chemical. For each application the chemical for the coating is chosen on the basis of a screening procedure including the employment of differential scanning calorimetry and the use of a thermogravimetric analyzer. It is particularly important that the coat chemicals have good thermochemical stability at temperatures up to the normal surface temperature of the propellant during time-independent combustion (typically 800 to 900 K). At higher temperatures, sudden degradation should occur over a vary narrow temperature range (10-20 C).
Helmy, A. K.↗
Silicone containing solid propellant
The addition of a small amount, for example 1% by weight, of a liquid silicone oil to a metal containing solid rocket propellant provides a significant reduction in heat transfer to the inert nozzle walls. Metal oxide slag collection and blockage of the nozzle are eliminated and the burning rate is increased by about 5% to 10% thus improving ballistic performance.
Ramohalli, K. N. R.↗
Polymer degradation rate control of hybrid rocket combustion
Polymer degradation to small fragments is treated as a rate controlling step in hybrid rocket combustion. Both numerical and approximate analytical solutions of the complete energy and polymer chain bond conservation equations for the condensed phase are obtained. Comparison with inert atmosphere data is very good. It is found that the intersect of curves of pyrolysis rate versus interface temperature for hybrid combustors, with the thermal degradation theory, falls at a pyrolysis rate very close to that for which a pressure dependence begins to be observable. Since simple thermal degradation cannot give sufficient depolymerization at higher pyrolysis rates, it is suggested that oxidative catalysis of the process occurs at the surface, giving a first order dependence on reactive species concentration at the wall. Estimates of the ratio of this activation energy and interface temperature are in agreement with best fit procedures for hybrid combustion data. Requisite active species concentrations and flux are shown to be compatible with turbulent transport. Pressure dependence of hybrid rocket fuel regression rate is thus shown to be describable in a consistent manner in terms of reactive species catalysis of polymer degradation.
Stickler, D. B.↗