Document Details

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General Electric Direct-Air-Cycle Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Program: XNJ140E Nuclear Turbojet, Section 5. Shield; Section 6. Turbomachinery; Section 7. Control System

REPORT

1962 May 25

none

APEX--908-PT.C

General Electric Co., Cincinnati, OH (United States)

2012 Aug 21

2024 Nov 12

This volume is one of twenty-one summarizing the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Program of the General Electric Company. It is a comprehensive technical report of the design and development activities of the XNJ140E Project. Included are a presentation of the design objectives and requirements, an engineering description of the XNJ140E-1 nuclear turbojet engine, supporting analytical design data and methods of calculation, and a brief review of three design studies preceding, and directly applicable to the XNJ 140E program. Beginning early in 1960, a major phase of the national effort leading to the achievement of nuclear powered flight was the design and development of the XNJ140E-1 nuclear turbojet engine to be utilized in an Advanced Core Test program. This program was to demonstrate the capabilities of a ceramic reactor coupled with the appropriate associated components of a direct-air-cycle nuclear turbojet engine. Descriptive material contained in this report is based upon the status of the XNJ140E Project at the time of contract termination. The XNJ140E-1 engine was designed with a reactor of sufficient capability to provide engine performance equivalent to that specified in Department of Defense guidance, which required a speed of Mach 0.8 at an altitude of approximately 35,000 feet in a Convair Model NX 2 aircraft, or equivalent, and an engine life potential of 1000 hours. During this flight condition, the estimated minimum net thrust of the engine was 8120 pounds. The engine contained a reactor-shield assembly coupled with a single set of X211 turbomachinery and arranged in an integral, in-line configuration. The compressor and turbine were separated, but connected by a long coupling shaft. An annular combustor system, using JP-4 jet fuel, was placed in-line between the reactor rear shield and the turbine inlet, and was arranged concentrically around the coupling shaft. The reactor-shield assembly was a prototype of comparable components to be used in subsequently planned flight versions of the engine. Turbomachinery components of improved design and an operational afterburner also would have been used.