The Hydrogen Slush Technology Facility...

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American...

Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 6:50 am

Guest

Lately I've noticed that the Air Force still has an ongoing project
for Slush Hydrogen Production. There are also patents on the
production method, apparatus, generator, as well as the Transfer Study
done at the NASA K-Site Test Facility.

How soon are the plans to implement this industry?

Slush Hydrogen Transfer Studies at the NASA K-Site Test Facility:

ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/
19920016714_1992016714.pdf

Spray-freeze slush hydrogen generator - Patent 5402649:

www.freepatentsonline.com/5402649.html

Slush hydrogen production method and apparatus - US Patent 6758046:

www.patentstorm.us/patents/6758046-description.html

Self-powered slush maintenance unit - US Patent 5301510:

www.patentstorm.us/patents/5301510-description.html

Aren't the "pellets" manufactured in these facilities comparable
to ones that could be used in a pulsed propulsion design?

- Just REALLY curious HERE...

American

Williamknowsbest...

Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 12:40 pm

Guest

On May 5, 12:50 pm, American <samuelran... at (no spam) comcast.net> wrote:

Quote:

Slush programs I have seen at NASA's Cleveland facility makes
something that looks like hydrogen milkshakes. The ice in this case
is MORE dense than the liquid, so its not the same as water ice which
is less dense. Also, there's a version where solid methane is mixed
into the liquid hydrogen, which is far far denser.

The most technically interesting part is that by setting the methane/
hydrogen ratio you can control molecular weight and energy very
precisely and with it the specific impulse of an engine. Since the
specific impulse and power of an engine are related to thrust, you can
have a higher thrust with the same mass flow rate at lower specific
impulse than you can at a higher specific impulse. Increased fuel
density helps too if you 'volumetrically limited' which many pump
designs are.

That's why during lift off strap-on SRBs make sense - which are then
quickly dropped.

One thing you can do with a methane/hydrogen slush is let the slush
stay low in the tank and blow it out first - with Isp and thrust
following a pre-programmed pattern - fixed by the density profile.
There used to be a treat called a 'push-up' where the icecream was
pushed out of a cardboard cylinder with a cardboard circle at the end
of a stick. Same thing here - the high density stuff comes out first
and get gradually lighter as the tank empties. This gives you an
almost ideal 'goddard trajectory' with very little engine adjustment.
You just turn it on full bore and go. It makes the engine lighter,
simpler, and hopefully, in quantity, less costly.

Fun with fuel engineering.

Rick Jones...

Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 1:53 pm

Guest

Williamknowsbest <William.Mook at (no spam) gmail.com> wrote:

Quote:

There used to be a treat called a 'push-up' where the icecream was
pushed out of a cardboard cylinder with a cardboard circle at the
end of a stick.

They still exist - in some places they may be called a push-pop.

rick jones
--
Wisdom Teeth are impacted, people are affected by the effects of events.
these opinions are mine, all mine; HP might not want them anyway... Smile

feel free to post, OR email to rick.jones2 in hp.com but NOT BOTH...

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