TY - JOUR
T1 - Toward the Engineering Feasibility of the Centrifugal Nuclear Thermal Rocket
AU - Thomas, Dale
AU - Houts, Michael
AU - Walters, William
AU - Hollingsworth, Keith
AU - Frederick, Robert
AU - Cassibry, Jason
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 British Interplanetary Society. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/5/19
Y1 - 2022/5/19
N2 - The Centrifugal NuclearThermal Rocket (CNTR) is a NuclearThermal Propulsion (NTP) concept designed to heat propellant directly by the reactor fuel.The primary difference between the CNTR concept and traditional NTP systems is that rather than using traditional solid fuel elements, the CNTR uses liquid fuel with the liquid contained in rotating cylinders by centrifugal force. If the concept can be successfully realized, the CNTR would have a high specific impulse (~1800 s) at high thrust, which may enable viable near-term human Mars exploration by reducing round-trip times to ~420 days. The CNTR could also use storable propellants such as ammonia, methane, or hydrazine at an lsp of ~900 s, enabling long-term in-space storage of a dormant system. Significant engineering challenges must be addressed to establish the technical viability of the CNTR. Research is presently underway to determine resolutions for these engineering challenges. In particular, research has begun on the analytical modeling and simulation of the two-phase heat transfer between the liquid metallic uranium fuel and the gaseous propellant. Subsequent research will progressively address the remaining CNTR engineering challenges.
AB - The Centrifugal NuclearThermal Rocket (CNTR) is a NuclearThermal Propulsion (NTP) concept designed to heat propellant directly by the reactor fuel.The primary difference between the CNTR concept and traditional NTP systems is that rather than using traditional solid fuel elements, the CNTR uses liquid fuel with the liquid contained in rotating cylinders by centrifugal force. If the concept can be successfully realized, the CNTR would have a high specific impulse (~1800 s) at high thrust, which may enable viable near-term human Mars exploration by reducing round-trip times to ~420 days. The CNTR could also use storable propellants such as ammonia, methane, or hydrazine at an lsp of ~900 s, enabling long-term in-space storage of a dormant system. Significant engineering challenges must be addressed to establish the technical viability of the CNTR. Research is presently underway to determine resolutions for these engineering challenges. In particular, research has begun on the analytical modeling and simulation of the two-phase heat transfer between the liquid metallic uranium fuel and the gaseous propellant. Subsequent research will progressively address the remaining CNTR engineering challenges.
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M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85135378629
SN - 0007-084X
VL - 75
SP - 181
EP - 188
JO - JBIS - Journal of the British Interplanetary Society
JF - JBIS - Journal of the British Interplanetary Society
IS - 5
ER -