You are not logged in.
Pages: 1
I know that there has been alot of work done at Johnson Space center at extracting oxygen from lunar regolith, but I was wondering if anyone had looked at extracting aluminum as a fuel so that you could produce both componets locally.
Could you cast a hallow aluminum core and use it as a hybrid motor with liquid oxygen, or prehaps a rocket engine that blows hyper-fine aluminum dust into the combustion chamber along with liquid oxygen.
Offline
The best idea i've heard of is to mix finely powderd oxide-free aluminum with a little bit of LOX to make a "slurry" that might be practical to use as a liquid fuel. It still will require a great deal of energy to break down Aluminum Oxide down into its componet elements and then have to grind & liquify them.
[i]"The power of accurate observation is often called cynicism by those that do not have it." - George Bernard Shaw[/i]
[i]The glass is at 50% of capacity[/i]
Offline
Beside that, I can´t imagine the isp of such an engine is useful. The exhaust is a powder, so the Isp is low.
Offline
This has been the best resource that I have found to date on alternative fuel sources.
Offline
Pages: 1