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This paper briefly reviews NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Office’s Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) Project investigation of NTP engine ground test options, with the objective of defining the technical complexity of ground testing of a NTP engine, identifying the salient features of each ground test option and discussing the outstanding technical issues to be resolved for each of these options before a final selection is made. Of particular note is the identification of a novel ground test facility design that significantly mitigates the environmental hazard risks of NTP engine testing.
","libraryItemType":"Story","projectId":14690,"isPrimary":false,"publishedBy":"Coote","publishedDate":"2015-06-01T00:00:00","internalOnly":false,"publishedDateString":"06/01/15 12:00 AM","entryDateString":"01/22/25 01:10 AM","libraryItemTypePretty":"Story","modifiedDateString":"05/22/23 02:25 PM"},{"file":{"fileExtension":"pdf","fileId":356553,"fileName":"NTP Ground Test Options","fileSize":582915,"objectId":356006,"objectType":"libraryItemFiles","presignedUpload":false,"fileSizeString":"569.3 KB"},"files":[{"fileExtension":"pdf","fileId":356553,"fileName":"NTP Ground Test Options","fileSize":582915,"objectId":356006,"objectType":"libraryItemFiles","presignedUpload":false,"fileSizeString":"569.3 KB"}],"libraryItemId":356006,"title":"REVIEW OF NUCLEAR THERMAL PROPULSION GROUND TEST OPTIONS","description":"High efficiency rocket propulsion systems are essential for humanity to venture beyond the moon. Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) is a promising alternative to conventional chemical rockets with relatively high thrust and twice the efficiency of highest performing chemical propellant engines. NTP utilizes the coolant of a nuclear reactor to produce propulsive thrust. An NTP engine produces thrust by flowing hydrogen through a nuclear reactor to cool the reactor, heating the hydrogen and expelling it through a rocket nozzle. The hot gaseous hydrogen is nominally expected to be free of radioactive byproducts from the nuclear reactor; however, it has the potential to be contaminated due to off-nominal engine reactor performance.
NTP ground testing is more difficult than chemical engine testing since current environmental regulations do not allow/permit open air testing of NTP as was done in the 1960’s and 1970’s for the Rover/NERVA program. A new and innovative approach to rocket engine ground test is required to mitigate the unique health and safety risks associated with the potential entrainment of radioactive waste from the NTP engine reactor core into the engine exhaust.
Several studies have been conducted since the ROVER/NERVA program in the 1970’s investigating NTP engine ground test options to understand the technical feasibility, identify technical challenges and associated risks and provide rough order of magnitude cost estimates for facility development and test operations. The options can be divided into two distinct schemes; (1) real–time filtering of the engine exhaust and its release to the environment or (2) capture and storage of engine exhaust for subsequent processing (reference 1, 2, 3…).
In 2011, NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Office initiated the Nuclear Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (NCPS) Project with the goal of assessing the affordability and viability of an NCPS. Under the NCPS Project, NASA started investigating and evaluating ground test facility options that enable environmentally safe and thorough testing of NTP devices. Three options have been considered to mitigate the hazard potential of radioactive byproduct entrainment in the hydrogen flow; (1) Firing the engine exhaust into a large bore hole in alluvium soil to filter the exhaust of potential radioactive by products, (2) Completely containing the engine exhaust during engine test operations and subsequently disposed of it between engine tests, and (3) Flowing the engine exhaust through a series of aerosol and noble gas filters and venting the filtered exhaust to the atmosphere.
This paper reviews the NCPS Project’s investigation of respective NTP engine test facilities, compare the options and review the current status of facility cost estimating and the NTP Project plans for 2015 in regard to the engine test facility concept trades.
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