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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1980

Observation of nuclear quadrupole hyperfine structure in the infrared spectrum of hydrogen iodide using a tunable-diode laser

Nuclear quadrupole hyperfine structure has been observed in the 1-0 vibration-rotation band of hydrogen iodide with a tunable-diode laser. The measured splittings agree well with microwave measurements of the HI molecule. Evidence for a slight change in the iodine nuclear quadrupole coupling constant from the ground to first excited vibrational state in hydrogen iodide was found.

Strow, L. L.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Hot hydrogen testing of carbides developed for nuclear thermal propulsion

Carbides are candidate materials for use in nuclear thermal propulsion, either as the primary material in nuclear fuel elements or as protective coatings. During operation, the fuel elements are exposed to flowing hydrogen gas at high temperature and it is important that fuel mass loss resulting from hydrogen corrosion be kept to a minimum. In this study, ZrC and NbC were fully consolidated by spark plasma sintering at 2100 °C, and relative densities greater than 98% were achieved. The samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction before and after hydrogen testing. The samples were exposed to hot flowing hydrogen gas at a pressure of 1 atm., at a temperature of 2500 K, and for durations up to 3 hours. It was found that the mass loss rate decreased with increasing exposure, before reaching a steady state value of about 1 mg/m2s. Oxygen in the samples increased the mass loss rate. Samples for which oxygen could be detected by x-ray diffraction had their mass loss rate increase by a factor of 10. Overall, the mass loss rates compare quite favorably to those previously reported.

M. P. Volz↗
NASA NTRS2011

Hyperthermal Environments Simulator for Nuclear Rocket Engine Development

An arc-heater driven hyperthermal convective environments simulator was recently developed and commissioned for long duration hot hydrogen exposure of nuclear thermal rocket materials. This newly established non-nuclear testing capability uses a high-power, multi-gas, wall-stabilized constricted arc-heater to produce hightemperature pressurized hydrogen flows representative of nuclear reactor core environments, excepting radiation effects, and is intended to serve as a low-cost facility for supporting non-nuclear developmental testing of hightemperature fissile fuels and structural materials. The resulting reactor environments simulator represents a valuable addition to the available inventory of non-nuclear test facilities and is uniquely capable of investigating and characterizing candidate fuel/structural materials, improving associated processing/fabrication techniques, and simulating reactor thermal hydraulics. This paper summarizes facility design and engineering development efforts and reports baseline operational characteristics as determined from a series of performance mapping and long duration capability demonstration tests. Potential follow-on developmental strategies are also suggested in view of the technical and policy challenges ahead. Keywords: Nuclear Rocket Engine, Reactor Environments, Non-Nuclear Testing, Fissile Fuel Development.

Litchford, Ron J.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Review of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Ground Test Options

High efficiency rocket propulsion systems are essential for humanity to venture beyond the moon. Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) is a promising alternative to conventional chemical rockets with relatively high thrust and twice the efficiency of highest performing chemical propellant engines. NTP utilizes the coolant of a nuclear reactor to produce propulsive thrust. An NTP engine produces thrust by flowing hydrogen through a nuclear reactor to cool the reactor, heating the hydrogen and expelling it through a rocket nozzle. The hot gaseous hydrogen is nominally expected to be free of radioactive byproducts from the nuclear reactor; however, it has the potential to be contaminated due to off-nominal engine reactor performance. NTP ground testing is more difficult than chemical engine testing since current environmental regulations do not allow/permit open air testing of NTP as was done in the 1960's and 1970's for the Rover/NERVA program. A new and innovative approach to rocket engine ground test is required to mitigate the unique health and safety risks associated with the potential entrainment of radioactive waste from the NTP engine reactor core into the engine exhaust. Several studies have been conducted since the ROVER/NERVA program in the 1970's investigating NTP engine ground test options to understand the technical feasibility, identify technical challenges and associated risks and provide rough order of magnitude cost estimates for facility development and test operations. The options can be divided into two distinct schemes; (1) real-time filtering of the engine exhaust and its release to the environment or (2) capture and storage of engine exhaust for subsequent processing.

Coote, David J.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Design of a direct nuclear propulsion system for a resupply mission to Phobos

For a long-term mission in space, a propulsion system with a high specific impulse and low mass must be designed. The system must also be safe in terms of human lives and must be cost efficient to a degree. The main focus is to design a direct nuclear propulsion system for a resupply mission to Phobos from an orbiting Earth space station and return. The design considered is an annular, packed particle bed nuclear reactor with hydrogen used as the reflector, moderator, coolant, and propellant. The use of hydrogen in all these areas helps reduce the total mass, since the amount of hydrogen required is only that needed for propulsion. The mass of hydrogen required for propulsion is reduced by using a direct nuclear propulsion system with a high specific impulse relative to a hydrogen oxygen system. Certain calculations were not looked at in great detail. This included the aerospace details of the mission. Most of the numbers for this section were found in tables and taken to be correct without extensive calculations. The main objective of the project was to study the thermohydraulic and neutronic aspects of the reactor.

Frymire, R.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Nuclear thermal rockets using indigenous extraterrestrial propellants

A preliminary examination of a concept for a Mars and outer solar system exploratory vehicle is presented. Propulsion is provided by utilizing a nuclear thermal reactor to heat a propellant volatile indigenous to the destination world to form a high thrust rocket exhaust. Candidate propellants, whose performance, materials compatibility, and ease of acquisition are examined and include carbon dioxide, water, methane, nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and argon. Ballistics and winged supersonic configurations are discussed. It is shown that the use of this method of propulsion potentially offers high payoff to a manned Mars mission. This is accomplished by sharply reducing the initial mission mass required in low earth orbit, and by providing Mars explorers with greatly enhanced mobility in traveling about the planet through the use of a vehicle that can refuel itself each time it lands. Thus, the nuclear landing craft is utilized in combination with a hydrogen-fueled nuclear-thermal interplanetary launch. By utilizing such a system in the outer solar system, a low level aerial reconnaissance of Titan combined with a multiple sample return from nearly every satellite of Saturn can be accomplished in a single launch of a Titan 4 or the Space Transportation System (STS). Similarly a multiple sample return from Callisto, Ganymede, and Europa can also be accomplished in one launch of a Titan 4 or the STS.

Zubrin, Robert M.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Nuclear Microprobe using Elastic Recoil Detection (ERD) for Hydrogen Profiling in High Temperature Protonic Conductors

The interaction between hydrogen and various high temperature protonic conductors (HTPC) has not been clearly understood due to poor densification and unreacted secondary phases. the melt-processing technique is used in producing fully dense simple SrCe(0.9)Y (0.10) O(3-delta) and complex Sr3Ca(1+x)Nb(2+x)O(9-delta) perovskites that can not be achieved by solid-state sintering. the possibilities of ion beam analysis have been investigated to quantify hydrogen distribution in HTPC perovskites subjected to water heat treatment. Nuclear microprobe technique is based on the interactions of a focused ion beam of MeV light ions (H-1, H-2, He-3, He-4,.) with the sample to be analyzed to determine local elemental concentrations at the cubic micrometer scale, the elastic recoil detection analysis technique (ERDA) has been carried out using He-4(+) microbeams and detecting the resulting recoil protons. Mappings of longitudinal sections of water treated SrCeO3 and Sr(Ca(1/3)Nb(2/3))O3 perovskites have been achieved, the water treatment strongly alters the surface of simple SrCe(0.9)Y(0.10)O(3-delta) perovskite. From Rutherford Back Scattering measurements (RBS), both Ce depletion and surface re-deposition is evidenced. the ERDA investigations on water treated Sr3Ca(1+x)Nb(2+x)O(9-delta) perovskite did not exhibit any spatial difference for the hydrogen incorporation from the surface to the centre. the amount of hydrogen incorporation for Sr3Ca(1+x)Nb(2+x)O(9-delta) was low and required further development of two less conventional techniques, ERDA in forward geometry and forward elastic diffusion H-1(p,p) H-1 with coincidence detection.

Berger, Pascal↗
NASA NTRS2018

Demonstration of Subscale Cermet Fuel Specimen Fabrication Approach Using Spark Plasma Sintering and Diffusion Bonding

Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) has the potential to expand the limits of human space exploration by enabling crewed missions to Mars and beyond. The viability of NTP hinges on the development of a robust nuclear fuel material that can perform in the harsh operating environment (> or = 2500K, reactive hydrogen) of a nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) engine. Efforts are ongoing to develop fuel material and to assemble fuel elements that will be stable during the service life of an NTR. Ceramic-metal (cermet) fuels are being actively pursued by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) due to their demonstrated high-temperature stability and hydrogen compatibility. Building on past cermet fuel development research, experiments were conducted to investigate a modern fabrication approach for cermet fuel elements. The experiments used consolidated tungsten (W)-60vol%zirconia (ZrO2) compacts that were formed via spark plasma sintering (SPS). The consolidated compacts were stacked and diffusion bonded to assess the integrity of the bond lines and internal cooling channel cladding. The assessment included hot hydrogen testing of the manufactured surrogate fuel and pure W for 45 minutes at 2500 K in the compact fuel element environmental test (CFEET) system. Performance of bonded W-ZrO2 rods was compared to bonded pure W rods to access bond line integrity and composite stability. Bonded surrogate fuels retained structural integrity throughout testing and incurred minimal mass loss.

Barnes, Marvin W.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Composition and properties of the so-called 'diamond-like' amorphous carbon films

The composition of amorphous 'diamond-like' films made by direct low energy ion beam deposition, R.F. discharge and sputtering was determined by nuclear reaction analysis, IR spectroscopy and microcombustion chemical analysis. The nuclear reaction analysis showed very similar hydrogen depth profiles for all three types of samples. The atomic ratio of hydrogen to carbon was approximately 0.2 at the film surface and rose to approximately 1.0 at a depth of 500 A. The integrated intensity of the C-H stretching band at about 2900 per cm indicates that the amount of chemically bonded hydrogen is less than the total hydrogen content. Combustion analysis confirmed the overall atomic ratio of hydrogen to carbon determined by nuclear reaction analysis. The chemical state of the non-bonded hydrogen was not determined; however, the effective diffusion coefficient computed from the hydrogen depth profile was extremely low. This indicates either that the films are exceedingly impermeable or that the non-bonded hydrogen requires an additional activated step to leave the films, e.g., desorption or chemical reaction.

Angus, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Nuclear Thermal Rocket (NTR) Propulsion and Power Systems for Outer Planetary Exploration Missions

The high specific impulse (I (sub sp)) and engine thrust generated using liquid hydrogen (LH2)-cooled Nuclear Thermal Rocket (NTR) propulsion makes them attractive for upper stage applications for difficult robotic science missions to the outer planets. Besides high (I (sub sp)) and thrust, NTR engines can also be designed for "bimodal" operation allowing substantial amounts of electrical power (10's of kWe ) to be generated for onboard spacecraft systems and high data rate communications with Earth during the course of the mission. Two possible options for using the NTR are examined here. A high performance injection stage utilizing a single 15 klbf thrust engine can inject large payloads to the outer planets using a 20 t-class launch vehicle when operated in an "expendable mode". A smaller bimodal NTR stage generating approx. 1 klbf of thrust and 20 to 40 kWe for electric propulsion can deliver approx. 100 kg using lower cost launch vehicles. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Borowski, S. K.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Review of hydrogen accidents and incidents in NASA operations

Safety, as a major factor in the development of a power economy based on hydrogen produced by nuclear- or solar-energy operated water electrolysis, is considered in terms of the safety problems involved in the production, handling, transportation, and use of liquid and gaseous hydrogen. These problems are reviewed through the records of accidents and incidents that have occurred in the development and operation of NASA's propulsion and power systems. Areas of research and development are suggested for increased safety and for the development of techniques to reduce the consequences of any mishaps.

Ordin, P. M.↗