Production and Hot Hydrogen Testing of Subscale Molybdenum Cermets for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion

Duffin, Taylor G.; Benensky, Kelsa M.; Zinkle, Steven J.; Barnes, Marvin W.; Tucker, Dennis S.

doi:10.2514/6.2018-4672

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Modern NTP fuel development efforts have focused on recapturing legacy cermet and composite fuel fabrication processes and non-nuclear hot hydrogen screening testing. [12][13][14][15][16][17] While development efforts have expanded to leverage modern fabrication technologies, such as spark plasma sintering (SPS), fuel design has not evolved to leverage lessons learned from modern terrestrial fuel programs, such as that of Gen-IV gas reactor inspired evolution in inert matrix fuel systems. In particular, recent development efforts in the fabrication and verification testing of tristructural isotropic (TRISO) particles 18 and fully ceramic microencapsulated (FCM) fuel technology 19 show promising performance and design features which may be leveraged for higher performing and/or more reliable NTP fuel systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Modern NTP fuel development efforts have focused on recapturing legacy cermet and composite fuel fabrication processes and non‐nuclear hot hydrogen screening testing 12‐17 . While development efforts have expanded to leverage modern fabrication technologies, such as spark plasma sintering (SPS), fuel design has not evolved to leverage lessons learned from modern terrestrial fuel programs, such as that of Gen‐IV gas reactor inspired evolution in inert matrix fuel systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Observed volatilization behavior of silicon carbide in flowing hydrogen above 2000 K

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Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) is an in-space propulsion method which directly transfers the heat from fission to a working fluid (ie propellant), which is heated to extremely high temperatures (2000-3000 K) and expanded through a nozzle to provide thrust. Through the use of a hydrogen (H 2) propellant, NTP is capable of high specific impulse (800-1100 seconds) and thrust (15-100 kN). This combination of high thrust and specific impulse is highly desirable for crewed interplanetary missions, to destinations such as Mars, primarily due to enabling reduced trip times which minimizes astronaut's exposure to deleterious health effects from microgravity, cosmic radiation, and prolonged confinement. High I sp and thrust can also enable longer surface stays, larger abort windows, and higher payload masses, ultimately maximizing return on scientific investment. NTP is a well-studied technology, with over 20 reactors tested during the nuclear engine for rocket vehicle application (NERVA)/Rover program (1955-1972). 1,2 Fuel systems for use in NTP systems must be able to withstand the demanding operating conditions of the engine, namely a high temperature (2000-3000 K) hydrogen (H 2) environment along with energetic neutron and gamma ray exposure, for short lifetimes (~45-110 minutes). 3 As a result of historic NTP fuel development programs, several legacy fuel forms have been developed and evaluated through both non-nuclear and nuclear screening testing. 4,5 Two NTP fuel systems with the greatest development status include

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