Analysis of Thermal-Protection Systems for Space-Vehicle Cryogenic-Propellant Tanks

Analytical techniques are presented that permit the calculation of heat-transfer rates with various thermal-protection systems for liquid-cryogenic-propellant tanks subjected to on-board, solar, and planetary heat fluxes. The thermal-protection systems considered include using closely spaced reflective surfaces (foils) and widely spaced reflective surfaces (shadow shields), insulation, arrangement of vehicle components, orientation with respect to radiant heating sources, and coatings for the control of solar absorptivity. The effectiveness of these thermal-protection systems in reducing propellant heating is shown both for ideal heat-transfer models and for a simplified hydrogen-oxygen terminal stage on a Mars mission. The proper orientation of a space-vehicle cryogenic tank with respect to the Sun is one of the more beneficial methods of reducing the heating effect of solar flux. Shadow shields can be extremely effective in reducing the propellant heating due to both solar and on-board fluxes. However, low-altitude planet orbits can result in high propellant heating rates due to planetary radiation reflected from the shields. For low-altitude orbits of more than a few days, foils appear to be desirable for all cryogenic-tank surfaces. Foils are also effective in reducing the on-board heating. A choice of shadow shields or foils cannot be made until a particular vehicle and a particular mission are chosen. The thermal conductivity of insulation materials would have to be lower by about two orders of magnitude with no increase in density before insulation could compete with reflective surfaces for use in long-duration thermal protection of cryogenic tanks in space. To demonstrate the application of the methods devised, thermal-protection systems are developed for a hydrogen-oxygen terminal stage for typical Mars missions

Altitude Investigation of Performance of Turbine-propeller Engine and Its Components

An investigation was conducted on a turbine-propeller engine in the NACA Lewis altitude wind tunnel at altitudes from 5000 to 35,000 feet. The applicability of generalized parameters to turbine-propeller engine data, analyses of the compressor, the combustion chambers, and the turbine, and a study of the over-all engine performance are reported. Engine performance data obtained at sea-level static conditions could be used to predict static performance at altitudes up to 35,000 feet by use of the standard generalized parameters

Full-scale Investigation of Cooling Shroud and Ejector Nozzle for a Turbojet Engine : Afterburner Installation

A full-scale ejector cooling investigation was made on a turbojet engine - afterburner installation in the NACA Lewis altitude wind tunnel. Ejector performance was studied at primary exhaust-gas temperatures from 2700 degrees to 3400 degrees R (corresponding to ejector temperature ratios from 2.0 to 5.0), primary pressure ratios from 1.79 to 3.4, secondary air flows up to 29 percent of the primary gas flow, and for diameter ratios from 1.08 to 1.42 and spacing ratios from 0.04 to 1.16. In addition, variations were made in the primary exhaust-nozzle area. Ejectors with large diameter ratios permit the attainment of high gas flow ratios, but the jet-thrust losses become prohibitive as the spacing ratio is increased from 0 to 0.16. As the ejector diameter is reduced, the obtainable gas-flow ratio and the thrust loss are reduced. Previous results showing that data obtained at a temperature ratio of 1.0 could not be extrapolated to determine ejector performance at high temperature ratios by the application of the temperature ratio factor to the gas-flow ratios are substantiated by the present investigation

Altitude-wind-tunnel investigation of tail-pipe burning with a Westinghouse X24C-4B axial-flow turbojet engine

Thrust augmentation of an axial-flow type turbojet engine by burning fuel in the tail pipe has been investigated in the NACA Cleveland altitude wind tunnel. The performance was determined over a range of simulated flight conditions and tail-pipe fuel flows. The engine tail pipe was modified for the investigation to reduce the gas velocity at the inlet of the tail-pipe combustion chamber and to provide an adequate seat for the flame; four such modifications were investigated. The highest net-thrust increase obtained in the investigation was 86 percent with a net thrust specific fuel consumption of 2.91 and a total fuel-air ratio of 0.0523. The highest combustion efficiencies obtained with the four configurations ranged from 0.71 to 0.96. With three of the tail-pipe burners, for which no external cooling was provided, the exhaust nozzle and the rear part of the burner section were bright red during operation at high tail-pipe fuel-air ratios. With the tail-pipe burner for which fuel and water cooling were provided, the outer shell of the tail-pipe burner showed no evidence of elevated temperatures at any operating condition