Boffins develop a rocket fuel that uses a combination of water and aluminium, both these materials are found on the Moon and Mars. Thus making the manufacturing of this fuel on those planets a possibility
MUMBAI MIRROR BUREAU
Researchers from Purdue University in the US are working with NASA to develop a new type of rocket propellant made of a frozen mixture of water and “nanoscale aluminium” powder. This rocket fuel promises to be more environmentally friendly than conventional propellants and could be manufactured on the Moon and Mars.
The aluminium-ice, or ALICE, propellant might be used to launch rockets into orbit and for long-distance space missions and can also to generate hydrogen for fuel cells, said Steven Son, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University.
Purdue is working with NASA and Pennsylvania State University to develop ALICE, which was used earlier this year to launch a 9-foot-tall rocket. The vehicle reached an altitude of 1,300 feet.
“It’s a proof of concept,” Steven Son said. “It could be improved and turned into a practical propellant. Theoretically, it also could be manufactured in distant places like the moon or Mars instead of being transported at high cost.”
Findings from spacecraft indicate the presence of water on Mars and the moon, and water also may exist on asteroids, other moons and bodies in space, said Son.
The tiny size of the aluminium, which have a diameter of about 80 nanometers, or billionths of a meter, is key to the propellant’s performance. The nano-particles combust more rapidly than larger particles and enable better control over the reaction and the rocket’s thrust, said Timothee Pourpoint, a research assistant professor in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
“It is considered a green propellant, producing essentially hydrogen gas and aluminium oxide, in contrast, each space shuttle flight creates about 230 tons of hydrochloric acid”Pourpoint said.
ALICE provides thrust through a chemical reaction between water and aluminium. As the aluminium ignites, water molecules provide oxygen and hydrogen to fuel the combustion until all of the powder is burned.
“ALICE might one day replace some liquid or solid propellants, and, when perfected, might have a higher performance than conventional propellants, it’s also extremely safe while frozen because it is difficult to accidentally ignite” Pourpoint said.
The fuel needs to be frozen for two reasons: It must be solid to remain intact while subjected to the forces of the launch and also to ensure that it does not slowly react before it is used.
Initially a paste, the fuel is packed into a cylindrical mold with a metal rod running through the center. After it’s frozen, the rod is removed, leaving a cavity running the length of the solid fuel cylinder. A small rocket engine above the fuel is ignited, sending hot gasses into the center hole, causing the ALICE fuel to ignite uniformly.
“This is essentially the same basic procedure used in the space shuttle’s two solid-fuel rocket boosters,” Son said. “An electric match ignites a small motor, which then ignites a bigger motor.”
Future work will focus on perfecting the fuel and also may explore the possibility of creating a gelled fuel using the nanoparticles. Such a gel would make it possible to vary the rate at which the fuel is pumped into the combustion chamber to throttle the motor up and down. The gelled fuel also could be mixed with materials containing more hydrogen. Then you can use it to run hydrogen fuel cells in addition to rocket motors, Son said.
From left to right – Students Cody Dezelan and Tyler Wood, professor Steven Son, students Mark Pfeil and Travis Sippel, professor Timothee Pourpoint, and researcher John Tsohas
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