Re: Letter to Tomcat on steam

How about h2o2 and c3h4o(propargyl alcohol) plus NH4NO3(ammonium
nitrate) as a tri-propellant consideration.

Ammonium nitrate / AlH3 @1.73 g/cm3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonium_nitrate

or at considerably less density but otherwise highly reactive

Lithium aluminium hydride / LiAlH4 @0.917 g/cm3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_aluminum_hydride

Tri-Propellant: H2O2/(C3H4O/NH4NO3)

NH4NO3 at 1.73 g/cm3 by itself isn't a wussy substance.  If it were
blended along with RP-1 or perhaps better if it were blended with
c3h4o(propargyl alcohol) should become quite easily pumped, especially
if it were preheated to some extent.

Most such elements if stored as cold or in slush form are fairly passive
and offer better density, that which makes for the cooler storage
applications worth the all round effort.

Although not nearly as mission renewable and certainly a whole lot more
complex, basically this method is packing along for the ride a good
batch of it's own highly reactive form of a hybrid h2o, therefore no
other significant form of auxiliary heating need be applied in order to
achieve the maximum of exhaust vapor expansion and terrific exit
velocity.

BTW;  some of this process might become the world's most risky job, so
the pay scale and extended family benefits would have to be rather
substantial, or else limited to Death Row inmates or perhaps those of
some biologically terminal condition that already have nothing to lose.
-
Brad Guth

Here's another go at a new and improved push for folks like "tomcat"
using super-heated and thus pre-vaporised h2o2 at perhaps 10,000 psi
instead of having to push so much extra thermal energy into plain old
h2o.

Not that tomcat's super-heated amounts of plain old h2o hasn't terrific
reaction thrust potential, expecially if the onboard resource of thermal
energy isn't to helty, however the self heating and thereby terrific
exhaust exit velocity of LRB's using 98% H2O2 and AlH3 (Aluminum hydride
or alane) as having an Isp of 424 with chamber temperature of 3923 K,
seems a likely combination that's going to be hard to beat.

A few other links of information that's intended to share the notions of
what the combined expansion of certain other elements can do in order
further push the outer limits of what h2o2 has to offer.

High Test Peroxide, or HTP
http://www.americanenergyindependence.com/peroxide.html

High Energy Peroxide Fuels / h2o2 w/BERYLLIUM HYDRIDE (BEH2)
http://www.doomrpg.com/n.x/Armadillo/Home/News?news_id=140
Michael Carden of X-L Space Systems visited with us last Friday, and we
got some very good historic peroxide documents from him that we are
going over now.  So far, the most interesting point is that some unusual
fuels can deliver extremely high Isp and density-impulse with peroxide:

98% H2O2 and BeH2 has a theoretical vacuum Isp (1000 psi chamber
expanding to 0.2 psi) of 498 (!!!) at a chamber temperature of 3884 deg
K.

98% H2O2/AlH3 has an impressive Isp of 424 with chamber temperature of
3923 deg K and a density of 1.58 g/cm3.

Lox/H2 under these conditions is listed at 470 Isp and a density of
0.227

They didn't have a density listed for the BeH2 mixture, and it seems to
be an extremely hazardous material, but the AlH3 sounds interesting.
There was no indication that these combinations had actually been fired,
so it may well be too good to be true, but the possibility of making a
pressure fed SSTO hybrid is sure interesting.

For comparison, an 85% H2O2 / Polyethylene hybrid has a chamber
temperature of 2600 K, so these fuels would have a 50% higher chamber
temperature.  Due to the metal content, they would probably also be much
harsher on nozzles.
-

h2o2/c3h4o(propargyl alcohol) offers an Isp of 350 and density of 1.3,
thus offers a mere fraction of the volume requirement of hauling Lox/Lh2
which unavoidably translates into a considerably larger craft and that
of a greater fuction of what Lox/Lh2 introduces as inert mass and
thereby offering a less payload worthy rocket.
http://www.dunnspace.com/index.htm
http://www.dunnspace.com/alternate_ssto_propellants.htm

h2o2/Al
UNDERWATER EXPLOSION TESTS OF TWO STEAM PRODUCING EXPLOSIVES.
II. 50- AND 300-LB CHARGE TESTS.

http://stinet.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD
0381197

Information Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_peroxide

Introduction to Hydrogen Peroxide http://www.h2o2.com/intro/faq.html

The History of Hydrogen Peroxide Propulsion
http://www.peroxidepropulsion.com/article/2

When was H2O2 discovered and how is it produced?
http://www.h2o2.com/intro/faq.html#5

Nanostructures for Energy and Chemicals Production
http://www.tkk.fi/Units/PhysicalChemistry/research/NENA%20homepage.html

Novel high performance steam engines - a better solution than Fuel Cell
and ICE?
http://www.energypulse.net/centers/article/article_display.cfm?a_id=935

Hydrogen Peroxide web sites: www.PeroxidePropulsion.com 

Experimental Rocket Propulsion Society (ERPS) ~ (AKA taboo/nondisclosure
off-limits)
http://lists.erps.org/mailman/listinfo/erps-list
http://vesta.wallis.com/pipermail/erps-list/2006-August/thread.html
http://users.cybercity.dk/~dko7904/community.htm

Propellant Formulation: H2O2-98% monopropellant. Optimum Oxidiser to
Fuel Ratio: 1.00. Temperature of Combustion: 1225 deg K.
H2O2/KerosenePropellant Formulation: H2O2-98%/Kerosene. Optimum Oxidiser
to Fuel Ratio: 7.07. Temperature of Combustion: 2975 deg K.
http://www.astronautix.com/props/h2o2.htm
A seriously preheated h2o2 along with a 10,000 psi primary chamber would
however go a long ways towards improving upon the
monopropellant/monoreactant Isp outcome.

H2O2/UDMH Propellant Formulation: H2O2-98%/UDMH. Optimum Oxidiser to
Fuel Ratio: 4.36. Density: 1.25 g/cc. Temperature of Combustion: 2980.00
deg K.
http://www.friends-partners.org/oldfriends/mwade/props/h2o2udmh.htm

DEVELOPMENT OF NON-TOXIC HYPERGOLIC MISCIBLE FUELS (NHMFs) FOR
HOMOGENEOUS DECOMPOSITION OF ROCKET GRADE HYDROGEN PEROXIDE (RGHP)
http://roger.ecn.purdue.edu/~rusek/papers/nawcbiprop.html

Samuel Cohen, the "father of the neutron bomb", has been claiming for
some time that red mercury is a powerful explosive-like chemical known
as a ballotechnic[5]. The energy released during its reaction is enough
to directly compress the secondary without the need for a fission
primary. He claims that he has learned that the Soviet scientists
perfected the use of red mercury and used it to produce a number of
softball-sized "pure fusion" bombs, which he claims were made in large
numbers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_mercury
He goes on to claim that the reason this is not more widely known is
that elements within the US power structure are deliberately keeping it
"under wraps" due to the scary implications such a weapon would have on
nuclear proliferation. Since a red mercury bomb would require no fissile
material, it would seemingly be impossible to protect against its
widespread proliferation given current arms control methodologies.
Instead of trying to do so, they simply claim it doesn't exist, while
acknowledging its existance privately.
-
I found this a bit interesting;
H2O2 Production and Destruction in the Outer Solar System:
We have found that 100 keV H+ irradiation can produce H2O2 from a water
ice film at temperatures as high as 120 K and have measured the
production rates at 20 K and 80 K.
http://www.aas.org/publications/baas/v36n4/dps2004/237.htm
-

Therefore h2o2 production and of it's historical usage isn't hardly my
idea, so get the puck over it.  Quite possibly pushing the density of
h2o2 plus Hg at 13.534 g/cm3 offers yet another very explosive/expanding
combination, or even the likes of methyl mercury (MeHg) or perhaps ethyl
Hg (EtHg) offers a good enough density worth of super-heated rocket
vapor exhaust for accomplishing the best KE/kgf reaction potential
that's damn near fusion worthy if that exhaust were getting electron-arc
plus CO2 laser cannon assisted.  However, H2O2/C3H4O or perhaps even
better yet H2O2/AlH3 seems rather impressive and far less lethal than
using h2o2 along with mercury(Hg).  Of course, once past GSO there's
little to worry about whatever's toxic, radioactive or not, such as for
using Ra-->LRn-->Rn-222 as ion thruster fuel shouldn't harm a soul or
otherwise have any negative environmental repercussions, in fact getting
rid of terrestrial radium by way of sending it off into space is nothing
but a win-win for our unfortunately polluted environment.
-
Brad Guth

I know you love the 1600 to 1 ratio of water going to steam.  I just thought
of this.  Early steam engines used this but it was going from steam to water
that generated power.

Forgive me because I do not know the details -- I have never designed an
engine of this type or studied the design in detail.  But the very early
steam engine's power stroke was done by filling the chamber with steam,
cooling it to the point the water turned from steam to liquid.  This would
produce a vacuum.  It was the pressure of the air on the piston against the
vacuum created by steam condensing to water on the other side that drove the
piston.  This allowed for a steam engine that didn't need metals that could
withstand high pressures.  If I remember correctly a 5 horsepower engine of
this type was as big as a house.  But it you didn't have a stream to dam and
create work from a water wheel, this was a good deal.  Pumping water from
mines was an early use of these engines.

I have never heard of any engine that the power cycle was based on water
turning the steam -- only hot steam cooling is all I have heard of.