The Zubrin NSWR was also requested, so I had a crack at that one too.
I decided to call the fuel 'Zubrol' because it sounded appropriately corporate. Properties are based on the 'example' NSWR described on Atomic Rockets, which assumes an 0.1% fission rate from a 2% aqueous solution of 20% enriched Uranium Tetrabromide, for an specific energy of 3.4 GJ/kg. This config gives 3.5GJ/Kg, which IMO is close enough.
And here's an example fuel tank, engine and ship.
What you might have noticed is that the NSWR ship is very expensive (and very light) compared to its NTR counterpart. That's because its fuel/propellant contains a lot of fissiles. The Delta-V is excellent though, and this engine is overall far more believable than the Fusion Torch drive. Another thing to take note of is that because Zubrol is a monopropellant the game correctly classifies it as being explosive. Its energy content is an order of magnitude higher than that of any chemical monopropellant in the game, so I'd advise that you don't let the enemy shoot your fuel tanks- the consequences will be akin to a large nuclear bomb detonating inside your hull. The exhaust velocity came out a lot lower than Atomic Rockets predicted- I suspect that this is because our nozzles are much less efficient than he assumed due to inadequate expansion ratio (even 1000:1 doesn't get the exhaust below 20,000K).
Doesn't Zubrol require more than just a regular propellant tank?
The solution would be contained in a bundle of pipes coated in boron carbide (for its properties of neutron absorption). Through a combination of the coating and space between the pipes, the contents would not reach critical mass until the solution is pumped into a reaction chamber, thus reaching a critical mass, and being expelled through a nozzle to generate thrust.
If I understand this correctly, in order to simulate it most accurately, you'd want to make your Zubrol tanks out of boron carbide, make them fairly small, and possibly give them extra "armor" to represent neutron shielding. This would, of course, lower the possible mass ratios a ship could achieve.
(Thanks for doing this by the way. NSWRs are by far my favorite hypothetical propulsion system).
The Zubrin NSWR was also requested, so I had a crack at that one too.
I decided to call the fuel 'Zubrol' because it sounded appropriately corporate. Properties are based on the 'example' NSWR described on Atomic Rockets, which assumes an 0.1% fission rate from a 2% aqueous solution of 20% enriched Uranium Tetrabromide, for an specific energy of 3.4 GJ/kg. This config gives 3.5GJ/Kg, which IMO is close enough.
And here's an example fuel tank, engine and ship.
What you might have noticed is that the NSWR ship is very expensive (and very light) compared to its NTR counterpart. That's because its fuel/propellant contains a lot of fissiles. The Delta-V is excellent though, and this engine is overall far more believable than the Fusion Torch drive. Another thing to take note of is that because Zubrol is a monopropellant the game correctly classifies it as being explosive. Its energy content is an order of magnitude higher than that of any chemical monopropellant in the game, so I'd advise that you don't let the enemy shoot your fuel tanks- the consequences will be akin to a large nuclear bomb detonating inside your hull. The exhaust velocity came out a lot lower than Atomic Rockets predicted- I suspect that this is because our nozzles are much less efficient than he assumed due to inadequate expansion ratio (even 1000:1 doesn't get the exhaust below 20,000K).
Doesn't Zubrol require more than just a regular propellant tank?
The solution would be contained in a bundle of pipes coated in boron carbide (for its properties of neutron absorption). Through a combination of the coating and space between the pipes, the contents would not reach critical mass until the solution is pumped into a reaction chamber, thus reaching a critical mass, and being expelled through a nozzle to generate thrust.
If I understand this correctly, in order to simulate it most accurately, you'd want to make your Zubrol tanks out of boron carbide, make them fairly small, and possibly give them extra "armor" to represent neutron shielding. This would, of course, lower the possible mass ratios a ship could achieve.
(Thanks for doing this by the way. NSWRs are by far my favorite hypothetical propulsion system).
Boron carbide absorbs neutrons because of the boron it contains. Pure boron fiber should be even more effective.
Last Edit: Apr 4, 2017 19:01:55 GMT by RiftandRend
quick question, where do I place the zubrol and reaction in the files?
I have the same problem actually...
"Fissiles" should work for Zubrol and a "ChemicalReactions" text file placed in the Data folded should be fine for the reaction itself. Alternatively you can just stick them in any mod folder, it really doesn't matter.