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Post by Arthrro on Oct 12, 2016 17:43:24 GMT
How viable is it to set up an NTR to accept multiple fuels/coolants so that one can optimize the density of their fuels/conductivity of it as well as delta-v?
It seems like we could be able to answer this pretty easily using math to find the molarity and calculate what the properties of the mix would create. So there wouldn't really be a shortage on data regarding how mixes affect the properties of say a solution performs when mixed as there's been plenty of studies on this.
As to why you'd want to do this. It allows the player to better optimize their fuel density, conductivity, thermal expansion, etc. Meaning the player is left to make better ships and engines to better suit their needs or purposes according to how they set it up.
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Post by captinjoehenry on Oct 12, 2016 17:59:53 GMT
Well I mean the easy way to do this is to take your NTR and see how many diffrent fuels it can use with out issues by changing the fuel type. If you make a good NTR you can design it to function with a variety of fuels. Currently you can't swap fuels on the fly but if your NTR can run diffrent fuels without any other changes than there is no reason it shouldn't work if it was supported code wise.
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Post by Arthrro on Oct 12, 2016 19:16:24 GMT
Well I mean the easy way to do this is to take your NTR and see how many diffrent fuels it can use with out issues by changing the fuel type. If you make a good NTR you can design it to function with a variety of fuels. Currently you can't swap fuels on the fly but if your NTR can run diffrent fuels without any other changes than there is no reason it shouldn't work if it was supported code wise. I'm not talking about running two different fuels at seperate times. I'm talking about mixing two seperate fuels into a single solution so as to better optimize the performance of the engine and fuel, similar to how chemical rockets work like the Fluorine-Hydrogen rockets both run the two fuels at the same time. However what is seperates a chemical rocket from an NTR is that both propellants have to react together. In an NTR setup you want both fuels in the mix to be inert to one another so as not to form a new compound and also because that chemical boom (that is the reaction from the rocket) is not wanted for thrust. What this offers is a balance between exhaust velocity and thrust allowing for more efficient engine designs to be used. If we were to say mix Methane and Helium, you're basically making an engine designed specifically to run on that mix and only that mix vs. one that can only run one fuel alone at a a time if you get what I'm saying. You're in essence making an entirely new fuel from the homogenous mix whose stats we can derive from the molarity (concentration of each substance to each other) and the stats of both gases. However it would be interesting to see how a multifuel NTR(that is one that is made to run on two seperate fuels at different times) would work out compared to mixed fuel, and a pure fuel NTR. |
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Post by concretedonkey on Oct 12, 2016 19:25:51 GMT
Like LANTR ?
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Post by captinjoehenry on Oct 12, 2016 19:29:27 GMT
Now I do not know what exactly this would do but I believe that running a mix of fuels through the engine would not really be beneficial. I would guess that mixing two diffrent fuels fuels in a nuclear engine would create thermal issues. Again I am not sure but I do not know of any proposed design for a NTR that uses mixed fuels.
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Post by concretedonkey on Oct 12, 2016 19:30:46 GMT
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Post by captinjoehenry on Oct 12, 2016 19:35:04 GMT
Well I stand corrected! As such I would simply love to be able to do this so I can have some high delta v fuel or fuel mix for orbital maneuvers and a lot of thrust for active combat for dodging hostile fire. So thanks for clearing it up and that is definitely something I would love to have! |
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Post by concretedonkey on Oct 12, 2016 19:44:39 GMT
No problem. This could be useful. A high trust mix for combat and a high ISP mix for transfer...
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Post by Arthrro on Oct 12, 2016 19:58:57 GMT
No problem. This could be useful. A high trust mix for combat and a high ISP mix for transfer... Someone gets it!!! LATNR would be a good analogy to the idea I had in mind. I actually didn't know such an engine existed as a matter of fact and was actually going to try and procure some data and math to show him what I meant and you did it for me. Thanks a million! Now we just gotta get the dev guy to figure out how to get this in game! |
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Post by n2maniac on Nov 3, 2016 6:33:31 GMT
"In LANTR mode, liquid oxygen is injected into the large divergent section of the nozzle where it burns sponaneously with the nuclear reactor-heated hydrogen exhaust." That.... is a friggin afterburner slapped onto a nuclear rocket. At first I was looking at this and thinking "well, put two sets of engines in or just run the turbopump higher and overwhelm the reactor," but now I suddenly have great interests in this. Do you know if they ever prototyped this? The article does not seem to mention such a thing. |
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Post by concretedonkey on Nov 3, 2016 6:40:57 GMT
"In LANTR mode, liquid oxygen is injected into the large divergent section of the nozzle where it burns sponaneously with the nuclear reactor-heated hydrogen exhaust." That.... is a friggin afterburner slapped onto a nuclear rocket. At first I was looking at this and thinking "well, put two sets of engines in or just run the turbopump higher and overwhelm the reactor," but now I suddenly have great interests in this. Do you know if they ever prototyped this? The article does not seem to mention such a thing. Not that I know off , no. |
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Post by n2maniac on Nov 3, 2016 6:49:43 GMT
"In LANTR mode, liquid oxygen is injected into the large divergent section of the nozzle where it burns sponaneously with the nuclear reactor-heated hydrogen exhaust." That.... is a friggin afterburner slapped onto a nuclear rocket. At first I was looking at this and thinking "well, put two sets of engines in or just run the turbopump higher and overwhelm the reactor," but now I suddenly have great interests in this. Do you know if they ever prototyped this? The article does not seem to mention such a thing. Not that I know off , no.  |
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Post by thorneel on Nov 3, 2016 18:26:41 GMT
How well would it work with fluorine?
I am asking because it may result in a more compact design, not at all because fluorine is nightmares distilled into a chemical.
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Post by lawson on Nov 3, 2016 22:49:52 GMT
How well would it work with fluorine? I am asking because it may result in a more compact design, not at all because fluorine is nightmares distilled into a chemical. Lol, then what do you call abominations like FOOF? Which, by the way, is happily hypergolic with SAND! |
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Post by jonen on Nov 3, 2016 22:57:50 GMT
Lol, then what do you call abominations like FOOF? Which, by the way, is happily hypergolic with SAND! "Stuff I don't want to have anywhere near my habitat module"? |
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