AN ANALYSIS OF VORTEX TUBES FOR COMBINED GAS-PHASE FISSION-HEATING AND SEPARATION OF THE FISSIONABLE MATERIAL

Technical Report · Fri Apr 11 04:00:00 EST 1958

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/4146306· OSTI ID:4146306

Kerrebrock, J L; Meghreblian, R V

In order to achieve the high exhaust gas temperatures, which are desirable if the full potential of nuclear fission as an energy source for rocket propulsion is to be realized, it seems essential that the fissionable material be maintained in a gaseous mixture with the propellant. It is then necessary to separate the fissionable material from the propellant before discharging the latter, since the loss of fissionable material is prohibitive otherwise. This report presents an analytical evaluation of the characteristics of a vortex tabe which achieves the desired separation by means of a centrifugal field. Propellant is fed into the tube tangentially, at the periphery, and diffuses radially inward through a cloud of fissionable gas, picking up the fission heat as it goes. The fissionable gas is held against this radial propellant flow by the centrifugal vortex field generated by the tangentially entering propellant. The analysis involves several assumptions, the most important of which are that the flow is laminar and that it is inviscid. A set of non-linear first order differential equations is obtained which is sufficient to describe the fissionable gas concentration, temperature, and pressure distributions in the tube. These equations have been integrated numerically for a very wide range of conditions. The analysis predicts that the vortex tube is capable of maintaining rather high concentrations of fissionable gas, such that the density of the fissionable gas is of the same order as that of the propellant, with negligible loss of the fissionable gas, and with ratios of propellant exit temperature to entrance temperature up to ten. (auth)

• Research Organization: Originating Research Org. not identified
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• NSA Number: NSA-14-012350
• OSTI ID: 4146306
• Report Number(s): CF-57-11-3(Rev. 1)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

CENTRIFUGATION
DENSITY
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
DIFFUSION
DISTRIBUTION
FISSIONABLE MATERIALS
GASES
HIGH TEMPERATURE
LOSSES
NUMERICALS
PLANNING
PRESSURE
PROPULSION
REACTOR TECHNOLOGY
REACTORS
ROCKETS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
TEMPERATURE
TUBES
TURBULENCE