Functional materials for the piping of nuclear propulsion systems

A functional material for the outer thermally insulating envelope of the piping designed to transport the high-temperature gaseous heat carrier in nuclear installations aboard spacecraft is studied. A thermal blanket made out of molybdenum foil is proposed to be used as this functional material. A physical and mathematical model describing the heat transfer across an insulating layer is developed, numerical parametric modeling of the piping with insulation is carried out, and the dependences of the main parameters characterizing the material of the outer piping envelope are obtained and analyzed. The efficiency of the studied outer envelope material and its compliance with the requirements imposed to ensure reliable energy efficiency of the system are verified.