In an effort to further refine potential point of departure nuclear thermal rocket engine designs, four proposed engine designs representing two thrust classes and utilizing two different fuel matrix types are designed and analyzed from both a neutronics and thermodynamic cycle perspective. Two of these nuclear rocket engine designs employ a tungsten and uranium dioxide cermet (ceramic-metal) fuel with a prismatic geometry based on the ANL-200 and the GE-710, while the other two designs utilize uranium-zirconium-carbide in a graphite composite fuel and a prismatic fuel element geometry developed during the Rover/NERVA Programs. Two engines are analyzed for each fuel type, a small criticality limited design and a 111 kN (25 klbf) thrust class engine design, which has been the focus of numerous manned mission studies, including NASA's Design Reference Architecture 5.0. slightly higher T/W ratios, but they required substantially more 235U.
Revised Point of Departure Design Options for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion
AIAA Space 2015 ; 2015 ; Pasadena, CA, United States
2015-08-31
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Keine Angabe
Englisch
Revised Point of Departure Design Options for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (AIAA 2015-4547)
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2015
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