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PurduesUSAFguy

Banned

From: Purdue University

Registered: 2004-04-04

Posts: 237

Re: Aluminum/Oxygen

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.

GCNRevenger

Member

From: Earth

Registered: 2003-10-14

Posts: 6,056

Re: Aluminum/Oxygen

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.

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[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]

bolbuyk

Member

From: Utrecht, Netherlands

Registered: 2004-04-07

Posts: 178

Re: Aluminum/Oxygen

Beside that, I can´t imagine the isp of such an  engine is useful. The exhaust is a powder, so the Isp is low.

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 29,015

Re: Aluminum/Oxygen

This has been the best resource that I have found to date on alternative fuel sources.

http://www.space-rockets.com/wspc.html