Model of a nuclear thermal test pipe using ATHENA. Master's thesis
Nuclear thermal propulsion offers significant improvements in rocket engine specific impulse over rockets employing chemical propulsion. The computer code ATHENA (Advanced Thermal Hydraulic Energy Network Analyzer) was used in a parametric analysis of fuelpipe. The fuelpipe is an annular particle bed fuel element of the reactor with radially inward flow of hydrogen through it. The outlet temperature of the hydrogen is parametrically related to key effects, including the effect of reactor power at two different pressure drops, the effect of the power coupling factor of the Annular Core Research Reactor, and the effect of hydrogen flow. Results show that the outlet temperature is linearly related to the reactor power and nonlinearly to the change in pressure drop. The linear relationship at higher temperatures is probably not valid due to dissociation of hydrogen. Once thermal properties of hydrogen become available, the ATHENA model for this study could easily be modified to test this conjecture.
- Research Organization:
- Air Force Inst. of Tech., Wright-Patterson AFB, OH (United States). School of Engineering
- OSTI ID:
- 5245180
- Report Number(s):
- AD-A-248111/7/XAB; AFIT/GNE/ENP-92M-2
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Thesis (M.S.)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ANNULAR FUEL ELEMENTS
PARAMETRIC ANALYSIS
SPACE PROPULSION REACTORS
A CODES
ACPR REACTOR
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
EXHAUST GASES
GAS FLOW
HYDRAULICS
HYDROGEN
MOMENTUM TRANSFER
POWER DENSITY
PRESSURE DROP
THERMODYNAMICS
COMPUTER CODES
ELEMENTS
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
FLUID FLOW
FLUID MECHANICS
FLUIDS
FUEL ELEMENTS
GASEOUS WASTES
GASES
HOMOGENEOUS REACTORS
HYDRIDE MODERATED REACTORS
MECHANICS
MIXED SPECTRUM REACTORS
MOBILE REACTORS
NONMETALS
POWER REACTORS
PROPULSION REACTORS
PULSED REACTORS
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTORS
RESEARCH AND TEST REACTORS
RESEARCH REACTORS
SIMULATION
SOLID HOMOGENEOUS REACTORS
SPACE POWER REACTORS
WASTES
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems
210600* - Power Reactors
Auxiliary
Mobile Package
& Transportable