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US 12,351,344 B2Granted
Nuclear thermal propulsion system with reactor direct drive of cryocooler turbine
AssigneeBlue Origin Manufacturing, LLC
InventorZachary Reid Tolley
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods for nuclear reactor direct drive of a cryocooler turbine. A nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) system may have a nuclear reactor that heats a thermal working fluid for directly driving the turbine to power a cryogenic fluid management (CFM) system for keeping propellant at cryogenic temperatures. The features may be used on NTP rockets. The propellant may be liquid hydrogen.
Claims20
A method of operating a spacecraft having a cryogenic fluid management (CFM) system, the method comprising:
- driving a cryocooler turbine of the CFM system using a heated first thermal working fluid;
- maintaining a cryogenic temperature of propellant using the cryocooler turbine;
- pumping the propellant along a nuclear reactor core of the spacecraft, thereby heating the propellant;
- and
- expelling the propellant to provide thrust to the spacecraft.
2 more elements
A spacecraft comprising:
- a cryocooler turbine configured to be directly driven by a first thermal working fluid heated by a nuclear reactor core of the spacecraft;
- a cryogenic fluid management (CFM) system powered by the cryocooler turbine to thereby maintain a liquid state of propellant while stored in a cryogenic tank;
- a fluid circuit configured to pump the propellant from the cryogenic tank along the nuclear reactor core, thereby heating the propellant;
- and
- a nozzle configured to expel therefrom the heated propellant to produce a specific impulse.
2 more elements
A spacecraft comprising:
- a first fluid circuit configured to convey a first thermal working fluid in thermal communication with a reactor;
- a turbine configured to be directly driven by the first thermal working fluid;
- a cryogenic tank configured to store a propellant;
- a second fluid circuit configured to convey the propellant along the reactor, and wherein the turbine is configured to affect a temperature of the propellant;
- and
- a nozzle configured to expel the propellant conveyed along the reactor.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.