INVESTIGATION OF LIQUIFIED GAS PRESSURE SOURCE FOR A BLOWDOWN WIND TUNNEL,
Abstract
A study is reported concerning the feasibility of operating hypersonic blowdown wind tunnels using a two-phase gas supply. The scheme was to use a mobile liquified gas supply, a high pressure liquid pump and a vaporizer to provide the high pressure gas needed to operate a hypersonic wind tunnel and thus avoid the high initial capital investment required o, an equivalent gas compressor unit. The mobile liquified gas supply can be made available concurrent with actual test demand and thus this two-phase system has potentially a high utilization factor. The technique was demonstrated by operating two wind tunnel configurations at M 7.5 using a liquid nitrogen gas supply. The tests were performed at the Aerodynamic Test Laboratory, located at the U. S. Naval Missile Center, Point Mugu, California. Results show that the two-phase gas supply system is satisfactory for the operation of hypersonic wind tunnels. The LN2 system is approximately two orders of magnitude more expensive than a conventional compressor gas supply. A cost trade off analysis on the basis of initial capital investment and tunnel utilization factors would be required by a particular facility to determine the desirability of using the twophase supply system. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 24, 1963
- Accession Number
- AD0423306
Entities
People
- D. A. Wallace
Organizations
- University of Southern California