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The presence of oxygen in a gas is detected by contacting an article, such as a film, comprising poly(ethylenenaphthalene-dicarboxylate) with a gas and simultaneously exposing the article to ultraviolet light. The article is subsequently heated and the presence of oxygen in the gas is indicated by thermoluminescence.
The details of the construction and operation of a gas mixing furnace are presented. A solid ceramic oxygen electrolyte cell is used to monitor the oxygen fugacity in the furnace. The system consists of a standard vertical-quench, gas mixing furnace with heads designed for mounting the electrolyte cell and with facilities for inserting and removing the samples. The system also contains the highinput impedance electronics necessary for measurements and a simplified version of standard gas mixing apparatus. The calibration and maintenance of the system are discussed.
A theoretical investigation of gas flow inside a multilayer insulation system was made for the case of the broadside pumping process. A set of simultaneous first-order differential equations for the temperature and pressure of the gas molecules through the perforations on the insulation layers. A modified Runge-Kutta method was used for numerical experiment. The numerical stability problem was also investigated. It was shown that when the relaxation time is less than the time period over which the gas properties change appreciably, the set of differential equations can be replaced by a set of algebraic equations for solution. Numerical examples were given and comparisons with experimental data were made.
A fundamental study of viscoseals having a rarefied gas as the sealant was conducted. Both experimental and analytical investigations are reported. Three different analytical models were formulated and are described in detail. An experimental investigation was conducted on multiple grooved two-inch diameter viscoseals over a wide range of gas densities and shaft speeds up to 30,000 rpm. Comparisons are presented between actual viscoseal performance and the theoretical predictions for both sealing coefficient and net leakage parameters as functions of the degree of gas rarefication. Recommendations are presented for the use of the analytical models.
The temporal behavior is considered of a quiescent mixture of gases of different temperatures with spatially uniform distribution. The process of heating a cold gas by a hot gas is treated on the basis of the Boltzmann kinetic equation. The mixture is assumed to be composed of absolutely hard smooth spheres, and the initial distribution functions for each gas is taken to the Maxwellian. With such a choice of initial distribution functions, it is shown that the solution of the Boltzmann kinetic equation depends only on the velocity modulus and the time.
Studies of the mechanism of inert gas influence on metabolism are reported. The studies reported include: metabolic response of hamsters to argon and nitrous oxide, membrane fatty acids and susceptability to narcotic gas influence, narcosis-induced histotoxic hypoxia, biochemical study of inert gas narcosis, hypoxia-induced protection against cardiovascular deterioration in the weightless state, and acute metabolic and physiologic response of goats to narcosis.
Separate studies of nuclear criticality, flow patterns, and thermodynamics for the gas core reactor concept have all given positive indications of its feasibility. However, before serious design for a full scale gas core application can be made, feasibility must be shown for operation with full interaction of the nuclear, thermal, and hydraulic effects. A minimum sized, and hence minimum expense, test arrangement is considered for a full gas core configuration. It is shown that the hydrogen coolant scattering effects dominate the nuclear considerations at elevated temperatures. A cavity diameter of somewhat larger than 4 ft (122 cm) will be needed if temperatures high enough to vaporize uranium are to be achieved.
Fission-gas-release rates from two 93 percent dense UN specimens were measured using a sweep gas facility. Specimen burnup rates averaged .0045 and .0032 percent/hr, and the specimen temperatures ranged from 425 to 1323 K and from 552 to 1502 K, respectively. Burnups up to 7.8 percent were achieved. Fission-gas-release rates first decreased then increased with burnup. Extensive interconnected intergranular porosity formed in the specimen operated at over 1500 K. Release rate variation with both burnup and temperature agreed with previous irradiation test results.
Gas adsorption measurements on an Apollo 12 ultrahigh vacuum-stored sample and Apollo 14 and 15 N2-stored samples, show that the cosmic ray track and solar wind damaged surface of lunar soil is very reactive. Room temperature monolayer adsorption of N2 by the Apollo 12 sample at 0.0001 atm was observed. Gas evolution of Apollo 14 lunar soil at liquid nitrogen temperature during adsorption/desorption cycling is probably due to cosmic ray track stored energy release accompanied by solar gas release from depths of 100-200 nm.
A warm gas thrust vector control system was studied to optimize the injection geometry for a specific engine configuration, and an injection valve was designed capable of meeting the base line requirements. To optimize injection geometry, studies were made to determine the performance effects of varying injection location, angle, port size, and port configuration. Having minimized the injection flow rate required, a warm gas valve was designed to handle the required flow. A direct drive hydraulic servovalve capable of operating with highly contaminated hydraulic fluid was designed. The valve is sized to flow 15 gpm at 3000 psia and the direct drive feature is capable of applying a spool force of 200 pounds. The baseline requirements are the development of 6 deg of thrust vector control utilizing 2000 F (total temperature) gas for 180 seconds on a 1.37 million pound thrust engine burning LOX and RP-1 at a chamber pressure of 250 psia with a 155 inch long conical nozzle having a 68 inch diameter throat and a 153 inch diameter exit.
The effect of noncondensable gases on high-performance arterial heat pipes was investigated both analytically and experimentally. Models have been generated which characterize the dissolution of gases in condensate, and the diffusional loss of dissolved gases from condensate in arterial flow. These processes, and others, were used to postulate stability criteria for arterial heat pipes under isothermal and non-isothermal condensate flow conditions. A rigorous second-order gas-loaded heat pipe model, incorporating axial conduction and one-dimensional vapor transport, was produced and used for thermal and gas studies. A Freon-22 (CHCIF2) heat pipe was used with helium and xenon to validate modeling. With helium, experimental data compared well with theory. Unusual gas-control effects with xenon were attributed to high solubility.
The design and fabrication of a dual spin gas bearing reaction wheel are discussed. Numerical analyses, data, and conclusions from performance tests are reported. The unique feature of the reaction wheel is the dual gas bearing concept in which two sets of self-acting hydrodynamic bearing are used to obtain stictionless operation and low noise around zero speed and to accommodate the momentum range from plus 6.8 N-m-s to minus 6.8 N-m-s with the potential for long life inherent in gas bearings.
Sets of routines are presented that calculate such real-gas supersonic stream properties as velocity, density, enthalpy, entropy, and isentropic exponent. Two alternative sets of measurements are assumed: (1) stagnation pressure, stagnation temperature, and the pressure on the surface of a static-pressure wedge; or (2) pressure and temperature in a plenum upstream of a supersonic nozzle and the stagnation pressure at the exit of this nozzle. The routines are applicable to any gas whose properties are known. Explicit routines are presented for determining these properties for air, nitrogen, oxygen, normal hydrogen, para-hydrogen, helium, argon, steam, methane, and natural gas.
This report compares results obtained for the determination of nitrogen in a selected group of niobium-base alloys by the inert-gas-fusion and the Kjeldahl procedures. In the inert-gas-fusion procedure the sample is heated to approximately 2700 C in a helium atmosphere in a single-use graphite crucible. A platinum flux is used to facilitate melting of the sample. The Kjeldahl method consisted of a rapid decomposition with a mixture of hydrofluoric acid, phosphoric acid, and potassium chromate; distillation in the presence of sodium hydroxide; and highly sensitive spectrophotometry with nitroprusside-catalyzed indophenol. In the 30- to 80-ppm range, the relative standard deviation was 5 to 7 percent for the inert-gas-fusion procedure and 2 to 8 percent for the Kjeldahl procedure. The agreement of the nitrogen results obtained by the two techniques is considered satisfactory.
As a result of the need for a uniform hot gas test stream for fuel injector development for hydrogen fueled supersonic combustion ramjet engines, an experimental study of injector configuration effect on exit flow uniformity of a hydrogen fueled oxygen replenished, combustion burner was made. Measurements used to investigate the burner nozzle exit profiles were pitot and gas sample measurements. Gas composition and associated temperature profiles were reduced to an acceptable level by burner injector modifications. The effect of the injector modifications was to redistribute the hydrogen fuel, increase the air pressure drop, promote premixing of the oxygen and air, and establish a uniform flow pattern where the oxygen-air mixture comes into contact with the hydrogen fuel. The most sensitive phenomenon which affected the composition profiles was the uniformity of the air distribution supplied to the combustion chamber.
Breadboard hardware was constructed to demonstrate detection of a gaseous species by the heterodyne principle. The characteristics of the component parts were investigated and preliminary measurements were made to establish the sensitivity and selectivity of the method for gas analysis of CO, CO2, and N2O. A prototype heterodyne gas analyzer was designed, built, and brought into operational condition. Performance parameters of the prototype analyzer were investigated and its sensitivity to CO2 measured. Further development was undertaken for both the optical bench and the electronic processor components. A three-gas prototype analyzer, capable of measuring the gases CO, CO2, and CH4 was also constructed and tested. Detailed descriptions of the work and results are presented.
Experimental evaluation under simulated engine conditions revealed that conventional mainshaft seals have disadvantages of high gas leakage rates and wear. An advanced seal concept, the self-acting face seal, has a much lower gas leakage rate and greater pressure and speed capability. In endurance tests (150 hr) to 43 200 rpm the self-acting seal wear was not measurable, indicating noncontact sealing operation was maintained even at this high rotative speed. A review of published data revealed that the leakage through gas path seals has a significant effect on TSFC, stall margin and engine maintenance. Reducing leakages by reducing seal clearances results in rubbing contact, and then the seal thermal response and wear determines the final seal clearances. The control of clearances requires a material with the proper combination of rub tolerance (abradability) and erosion resistance. Increased rub tolerance is usually gained at the expense of reduced erosion resistance and vice versa.
The results of testing an on-line quadrupole gas analyzer system are reported. Gas samples were drawn from the exhaust of a hydrogen-oxygen-nitrogen rocket which simulated the flow composition and dynamics at the combustor exit of a supersonic combustion ramjet engine. System response time of less than 50 milliseconds was demonstrated, with analytical accuracy estimated to be + or - 5 percent. For more complex chemical systems with interfering atom patterns, analysis would be more difficult. A cooled-gas pyrometer probe was evaluated as a total temperature indicator and as the primary mass flow measuring element for the total sample flow rate.