skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Core gas dynamics and heat transfer analyses of the COMET nuclear thermal rocket engine

Abstract

There has been a renewed interest in nuclear space propulsion for both the Space Exploration Initiative and military missions. The conical multiple element thruster (COMET) nuclear-thermal rocket engine discussed in this paper is one of several designs that have been proposed as an alternative to the pellet-bed reactor, which the US Air Force has been developing for various military space missions. COMET was designed to have a thrust of 75,000 lb[sub f] and a specific impulse of 900 to 1000 s. The nuclear reactor subsystem consists of 37 fuel assemblies. The core geometry is conical, as is the shape of each individual assembly. A typical fuel assembly, consists of a conical hot flow channel surrounded by a conical fueled region. The fuel region contains [approx] 500 conical fuel wafers, which are each 0.5 mm thick. Each wafer is separated from the adjacent wafers by a 0.1-mm coolant channel, resulting in a fueled region porosity of 20%. Surrounding the fuel region is an annular inlet flow channel. The hydrogen propellant enters the inlet flow channel at the upper end of the fuel assembly at a temperature of [approx] 300 K. As the hydrogen flows down the inlet channel, it is divertedmore » into the narrow fuel coolant channels and heated to [approx] 3150 K as it exits the fuel. The work reported here involved modeling the flow through the conical coolant channels and the hot flow duct of COMET fuel assemblies.« less

Authors:
;  [1]
  1. Idaho National Engineering Lab., Idaho Falls (United States)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
6671958
Report Number(s):
CONF-921102-
Journal ID: ISSN 0003-018X; CODEN: TANSAO
Resource Type:
Conference
Journal Name:
Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 66; Conference: Joint American Nuclear Society (ANS)/European Nuclear Society (ENS) international meeting on fifty years of controlled nuclear chain reaction: past, present, and future, Chicago, IL (United States), 15-20 Nov 1992; Journal ID: ISSN 0003-018X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS; ROCKET ENGINES; HEAT TRANSFER; DYNAMICS; FUEL ASSEMBLIES; FUEL CHANNELS; MATHEMATICAL MODELS; PROPELLANTS; PROPULSION REACTORS; REACTOR CORES; SPACE FLIGHT; THRUSTERS; ENERGY TRANSFER; ENGINES; MECHANICS; REACTOR CHANNELS; REACTOR COMPONENTS; REACTORS; 210600* - Power Reactors, Auxiliary, Mobile Package, & Transportable

Citation Formats

Moore, R L, and Bennett, R G. Core gas dynamics and heat transfer analyses of the COMET nuclear thermal rocket engine. United States: N. p., 1992. Web.
Moore, R L, & Bennett, R G. Core gas dynamics and heat transfer analyses of the COMET nuclear thermal rocket engine. United States.
Moore, R L, and Bennett, R G. 1992. "Core gas dynamics and heat transfer analyses of the COMET nuclear thermal rocket engine". United States.
@article{osti_6671958,
title = {Core gas dynamics and heat transfer analyses of the COMET nuclear thermal rocket engine},
author = {Moore, R L and Bennett, R G},
abstractNote = {There has been a renewed interest in nuclear space propulsion for both the Space Exploration Initiative and military missions. The conical multiple element thruster (COMET) nuclear-thermal rocket engine discussed in this paper is one of several designs that have been proposed as an alternative to the pellet-bed reactor, which the US Air Force has been developing for various military space missions. COMET was designed to have a thrust of 75,000 lb[sub f] and a specific impulse of 900 to 1000 s. The nuclear reactor subsystem consists of 37 fuel assemblies. The core geometry is conical, as is the shape of each individual assembly. A typical fuel assembly, consists of a conical hot flow channel surrounded by a conical fueled region. The fuel region contains [approx] 500 conical fuel wafers, which are each 0.5 mm thick. Each wafer is separated from the adjacent wafers by a 0.1-mm coolant channel, resulting in a fueled region porosity of 20%. Surrounding the fuel region is an annular inlet flow channel. The hydrogen propellant enters the inlet flow channel at the upper end of the fuel assembly at a temperature of [approx] 300 K. As the hydrogen flows down the inlet channel, it is diverted into the narrow fuel coolant channels and heated to [approx] 3150 K as it exits the fuel. The work reported here involved modeling the flow through the conical coolant channels and the hot flow duct of COMET fuel assemblies.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6671958}, journal = {Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States)},
issn = {0003-018X},
number = ,
volume = 66,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1992},
month = {Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1992}
}

Conference:
Other availability
Please see Document Availability for additional information on obtaining the full-text document. Library patrons may search WorldCat to identify libraries that hold this conference proceeding.

Save / Share: