Effect of buoyancy on fuel containment in an open-cycle gas-core nuclear rocket engine.Analysis aimed at determining the scaling laws for the buoyancy effect on fuel containment in an open-cycle gas-core nuclear rocket engine, so conducted that experimental conditions can be related to engine conditions. The fuel volume fraction in a short coaxial flow cavity is calculated with a programmed numerical solution of the steady Navier-Stokes equations for isothermal, variable density fluid mixing. A dimensionless parameter B, called the Buoyancy number, was found to correlate the fuel volume fraction for large accelerations and various density ratios. This parameter has the value B = 0 for zero acceleration, and B = 350 for typical engine conditions.
Document ID
19720027682
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Authors
Putre, H. A. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, Ohio, United States)
Date Acquired
August 6, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1971
Subject Category
Nuclear Engineering
Meeting Information
Meeting: Symposium on Uranium Plasmas: Research and Applications