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Title: Hot Hydrogen Test Facility

Abstract

The core in a nuclear thermal rocket will operate at high temperatures and in hydrogen. One of the important parameters in evaluating the performance of a nuclear thermal rocket is specific impulse, ISP. This quantity is proportional to the square root of the propellant's absolute temperature and inversely proportional to square root of its molecular weight. Therefore, high temperature hydrogen is a favored propellant of nuclear thermal rocket designers. Previous work has shown that one of the life-limiting phenomena for thermal rocket nuclear cores is mass loss of fuel to flowing hydrogen at high temperatures. The hot hydrogen test facility located at the Idaho National Lab (INL) is designed to test suitability of different core materials in 2500 deg. C hydrogen flowing at 1500 liters per minute. The facility is intended to test low activity uranium containing materials but is also suited for testing cladding and coating materials. In this first installment the facility is described. Automated data acquisition, flow and temperature control, vessel compatibility with various core geometries and overall capabilities are discussed.

Authors:
; ; ; ; ;  [1]
  1. Idaho National Laboratory, PO Box 1625, Idaho Falls, ID 83415 (United States)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
21054547
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
AIP Conference Proceedings
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 880; Journal Issue: 1; Conference: International forum-STAIF 2007: 11. conference on thermophysics applications in microgravity; 24. symposium on space nuclear power and propulsion; 5. conference on human/robotic technology and the vision for space exploration; 5. symposium on space colonization; 4. symposium on new frontiers and future concepts, Albuquerque, NM (United States), 11-15 Feb 2007; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2437477; (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0094-243X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS; DATA ACQUISITION; EVALUATION; FISSION; HYDROGEN; MOLECULAR WEIGHT; NUCLEAR FUELS; PERFORMANCE; PROPULSION; PROPULSION REACTORS; PULSES; REACTOR FUELING; ROCKETS; TEMPERATURE CONTROL; TEST FACILITIES; TESTING; URANIUM

Citation Formats

Swank, W David, Carmack, Jon, Werner, James E, Pink, Robert J, Haggard, DeLon C, and Johnson, Ryan. Hot Hydrogen Test Facility. United States: N. p., 2007. Web. doi:10.1063/1.2437477.
Swank, W David, Carmack, Jon, Werner, James E, Pink, Robert J, Haggard, DeLon C, & Johnson, Ryan. Hot Hydrogen Test Facility. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2437477
Swank, W David, Carmack, Jon, Werner, James E, Pink, Robert J, Haggard, DeLon C, and Johnson, Ryan. 2007. "Hot Hydrogen Test Facility". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2437477.
@article{osti_21054547,
title = {Hot Hydrogen Test Facility},
author = {Swank, W David and Carmack, Jon and Werner, James E and Pink, Robert J and Haggard, DeLon C and Johnson, Ryan},
abstractNote = {The core in a nuclear thermal rocket will operate at high temperatures and in hydrogen. One of the important parameters in evaluating the performance of a nuclear thermal rocket is specific impulse, ISP. This quantity is proportional to the square root of the propellant's absolute temperature and inversely proportional to square root of its molecular weight. Therefore, high temperature hydrogen is a favored propellant of nuclear thermal rocket designers. Previous work has shown that one of the life-limiting phenomena for thermal rocket nuclear cores is mass loss of fuel to flowing hydrogen at high temperatures. The hot hydrogen test facility located at the Idaho National Lab (INL) is designed to test suitability of different core materials in 2500 deg. C hydrogen flowing at 1500 liters per minute. The facility is intended to test low activity uranium containing materials but is also suited for testing cladding and coating materials. In this first installment the facility is described. Automated data acquisition, flow and temperature control, vessel compatibility with various core geometries and overall capabilities are discussed.},
doi = {10.1063/1.2437477},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/21054547}, journal = {AIP Conference Proceedings},
issn = {0094-243X},
number = 1,
volume = 880,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Jan 30 00:00:00 EST 2007},
month = {Tue Jan 30 00:00:00 EST 2007}
}