Advanced future rocket propellents under research

[kvraghavaiah]

NUCLEAR PROPELLENTS

 

In rockets of now days, chemicals like Hydrogen, Kerosene, Oxygen, etc. react in the reaction chamber and release high energy. This chemical reaction energy adds to the compounds formed after reaction and makes them highly pressurous gases. These pressurous gases will be in a position to push the rocket up with a heavy pressure. The energy that can be got from a chemical reaction is very limited in amount compared to that from nuclear reactions and there is no improvement in the fuels since many years to produce much high pressures than at present.

 

Here, the idea is that, by using a nuclear reactor under controlled reaction as energy producer for a rocket, we can achieve greater thrusts in two manners.

 

One method is, energizing selective elements with the energy released from nuclear reaction to get high temperatures (Thousands of degree centigrade) in the burner chamber of the rocket to produce more energetic gases than those in hydrogen-oxygen reactions.

 

The other method is heating (adding energy) gases produced by chemical reaction of general rocket fuels to much higher energies in the engine using energy from the nuclear reactor to give gases producing much higher thrust to push rocket up.

 

In other words, we add energy released from nuclear fission reaction (preferably) to other materials to produce more powerful jets than in general hydrogen-oxygen reactions.

 

The criticality lies in feasibility of using mini nuclear reactor in the rocket engine.

 

* The reactor should be of small size to fit in the reaction chamber.

* The other thing is, In order to add energy from nuclear reaction to the pressure producing materials with in a very short span of time, the nuclear reactor has to be maintained at as much high temperatures as possible, that the nuclear reactor can quickly dissipate energy to its surroundings and the reactor can withstand. Anyhow, the surface area of the nuclear reactor will be increased to dissipate heat quickly in to the materials in the reaction chamber or burner by using an architecture similar to that used in general heat producing engines, which dissipate heat to the outer atmosphere through metal plates arranged all around the burner. Yet, alloys or nano tubes have to be used in the construction of the nuclear reactor to enable it withstand as much high temperatures as possible with the available temperature withstanding materials. Higher the temperature withstanding ability of the nuclear reactor, greater will be the energy that can be added to the materials in the reaction chamber in a very short span of time.

 

There will be no problem with the surrounding reaction chamber of the nuclear reactor, because we can maintain the temperature of the gases as in ordinary chemical reactions by increasing nozzle’s cross section area of the rocket and thus maintain the same pressures as in ordinary chemical reactions, but with higher thrusts due to increased nozzle cross section.

 

The above mentioned two critical achievements can be done to some extent. With the presently available modern alloys or nano tubes or carbon compounds, which can withstand very high temperatures than the materials used in the construction of rocket engines since olden days, high temperatures can be generated. Since the amount of nuclear fuel required to run a rocket is very less in amount, a mini nuclear reactor can be designed with a little effort.

 

If we increase the energy of the pressurous gas, the payload the same sized rocket can take to the same destination increases exponentially. I.e., If we increase the energy to twice, the payload may increase by 20 times.

 

Development of such engines enables development of reusable space vehicles at much smaller size and lower cost of payload transfer. Outer space travels will become easy, making moon as mid station. We can launch a rocket from earth to moon with a pressure agent (vaporizing material) and reactor as burner of agent. We can refill rocket with soil (or selective elements) on moon and from there, launch it to other planets at a very less cost than in the methods thought about till now.

[CraigD]

Here, the idea is that, by using a nuclear reactor under controlled reaction as energy producer for a rocket

This is a fairly old idea, with a lot of literature. If you haven’t already, kvraghavaiah, I recommend you read as much as you can find on the subject of “nuclear thermal rockets”.

 

Although no such motor has yet been flown, some were built and test-fired in the 1950s and 1960s. Much science fiction of the 1930s through 1970s speculated that such motors would prove essential to upcoming space programs, Heinlein’s 1947 novel “Rocket Ship Galileo” and the 1950 movie “Destination Moon” being well-know examples.

 

The basic problem with nuclear rocket motors is that they are very heavy compared to chemical motors. Theoretically, designing one with a thrust:weight ration greater than 1:1 – necessary to launch a conventional rocket from Earth’s surface – is challenging. Radioactive pollution from their exhausts is another concern. For these reasons, I believe the consensus of present-day rocket scientists is that their application to spaceflight is limited.

[Roadam]

Idea itself is really old but in reality reactor efficiency is yet about thousand times smaller than required for a rocket with 50% fuel to reach orbit. That is for a reactor with shielding. when there would be reactors with at least 50 kilowatts energy per kilogram of a reactor, then we would be flying on a nuclear rockets, until then we would have to utilise good old chemical rockets.

 

But we absolutely must place a nuclear powered space ship in orbit becouse they are the best when it comes to long flights. Even a nuclear driven mission to mars wouldnt be bad becouse if you cant use heavy shield you can still make some distance between astronauts and reactor. A little bit more radiation is nothing compared to the dose that they would receive during longer flight.

[Moontanman]

NUCLEAR PROPELLENTS

 

In rockets of now days, chemicals like Hydrogen, Kerosene, Oxygen, etc. react in the reaction chamber and release high energy. This chemical reaction energy adds to the compounds formed after reaction and makes them highly pressurous gases. These pressurous gases will be in a position to push the rocket up with a heavy pressure. The energy that can be got from a chemical reaction is very limited in amount compared to that from nuclear reactions and there is no improvement in the fuels since many years to produce much high pressures than at present.

 

Here, the idea is that, by using a nuclear reactor under controlled reaction as energy producer for a rocket, we can achieve greater thrusts in two manners.

 

One method is, energizing selective elements with the energy released from nuclear reaction to get high temperatures (Thousands of degree centigrade) in the burner chamber of the rocket to produce more energetic gases than those in hydrogen-oxygen reactions.

 

The other method is heating (adding energy) gases produced by chemical reaction of general rocket fuels to much higher energies in the engine using energy from the nuclear reactor to give gases producing much higher thrust to push rocket up.

 

In other words, we add energy released from nuclear fission reaction (preferably) to other materials to produce more powerful jets than in general hydrogen-oxygen reactions.

 

The criticality lies in feasibility of using mini nuclear reactor in the rocket engine.

 

* The reactor should be of small size to fit in the reaction chamber.

* The other thing is, In order to add energy from nuclear reaction to the pressure producing materials with in a very short span of time, the nuclear reactor has to be maintained at as much high temperatures as possible, that the nuclear reactor can quickly dissipate energy to its surroundings and the reactor can withstand. Anyhow, the surface area of the nuclear reactor will be increased to dissipate heat quickly in to the materials in the reaction chamber or burner by using an architecture similar to that used in general heat producing engines, which dissipate heat to the outer atmosphere through metal plates arranged all around the burner. Yet, alloys or nano tubes have to be used in the construction of the nuclear reactor to enable it withstand as much high temperatures as possible with the available temperature withstanding materials. Higher the temperature withstanding ability of the nuclear reactor, greater will be the energy that can be added to the materials in the reaction chamber in a very short span of time.

 

There will be no problem with the surrounding reaction chamber of the nuclear reactor, because we can maintain the temperature of the gases as in ordinary chemical reactions by increasing nozzle’s cross section area of the rocket and thus maintain the same pressures as in ordinary chemical reactions, but with higher thrusts due to increased nozzle cross section.

 

The above mentioned two critical achievements can be done to some extent. With the presently available modern alloys or nano tubes or carbon compounds, which can withstand very high temperatures than the materials used in the construction of rocket engines since olden days, high temperatures can be generated. Since the amount of nuclear fuel required to run a rocket is very less in amount, a mini nuclear reactor can be designed with a little effort.

 

If we increase the energy of the pressurous gas, the payload the same sized rocket can take to the same destination increases exponentially. I.e., If we increase the energy to twice, the payload may increase by 20 times.

 

Development of such engines enables development of reusable space vehicles at much smaller size and lower cost of payload transfer. Outer space travels will become easy, making moon as mid station. We can launch a rocket from earth to moon with a pressure agent (vaporizing material) and reactor as burner of agent. We can refill rocket with soil (or selective elements) on moon and from there, launch it to other planets at a very less cost than in the methods thought about till now.

 

Check out this link for the untimate thermal nuclear rocket.

 

NuclearSpace: Opening the Next Frontier pt. 1

 

Michael

[silverslith]

Check out this link for the untimate thermal nuclear rocket.

 

NuclearSpace: Opening the Next Frontier pt. 1

 

Michael

 

Please tell me thats not your lightbulb again michael.

one more: who's afraid of the big bad supersonic shockwave in the pressure chamber.(I am)

Trust me, if this was tried as a reusable rocket, even if it did not blow up the first time it was launched, it would blow up nastily some time soon.

Pretty please keep your reactors in strong containment that could handle smashdown and thermal exhausts are very inefficient use of reaction mass and nuclear energy.

[Moontanman]

Please tell me thats not your lightbulb again michael.

one more: who's afraid of the big bad supersonic shockwave in the pressure chamber.(I am)

Trust me, if this was tried as a reusable rocket, even if it did not blow up the first time it was launched, it would blow up nastily some time soon.

Pretty please keep your reactors in strong containment that could handle smashdown and thermal exhausts are very inefficient use of reaction mass and nuclear energy.

 

 

Well, it's not exactly my nuclear light bulb but since nuclear power is one of my passions I'll have to say if you had really read the entire paper you would have seen that the amount of nuclear material contained in the rocket was very small and could be neutralized very quickly in the event of a accident. Since a working rocket would contain several of these engines more than one could be scrammed in the same flight and not keep the space craft from reaching orbit. Also the rocket doesn't have to be used inside the earths atmosphere to be far more efficient and useful than anything we have now. The amount of uranium plasma is so small that detonating a nuclear weapon inside the earths atmosphere releases ten times the nucleotides this rocket would in the event of catastrophic failure if safety systems didn't remove the reactants first. we have released thousands of times the radio-nucleotides into the atmosphere than a failure of this rocket would even with out the safety systems. I really can't see the problem with at least building a few prototypes and see if they work as well as theory says they will.

 

Michael