This is the second part of nitrous cold flow testing. In this test, we run nitrous oxide through our nitrous tower to verify our system, get pressure and temperature readings, and ensure a safe enviornment for testing with nitrous. Nitrous oxide is a rather dangerous chemical, so much safety regarding handling nitrous research needs to be completed in order to progress with our test.

Elements

Propulsion

The main difference between the nitrous cold flow (water) and the nitrous cold flow is that this test runs actual nitrous oxide, without a separate tank for pressurization, through our nitrous tower compared to running water pressurized with nitrogen through our nitrous tower. Nitrous oxide was chosen as our oxidizer due to its low safety hazards in comparison to other oxidizer choices and its unique self-pressurizing property. Liquid nitrous oxide, under a certain temperature range, boils off to form a separate cloud of nitrous oxide gas that pressurizes the liquid nitrous oxide when in a closed container. This makes rocket design much simpler, as we do not need a separate nitrogen tank to pressure our oxidizer.

Due to this, the only real difference between the nitrous cold flow P&ID and the nitrous cold flow (water) P&ID is that the nitrous oxide cold flow (water) has a nitrogen tank whereas this one does not.

However, it is important to note certain changes from the ethanol cold flow P&ID that account for nitrous' properties. In the ethanol cold flow, we filled the ethanol flight tank with water from the top. However, since nitrous is hazardous, we have decided to fill the nitrous flight tank from the bottom. We will attach the nitrous storage tank to the area of piping underneath the nitrous flight tank with the solenoid valve NCSV-3. This way the nitrous that is boiling off gets collected in the top of the nitrous flight tank and plubing above it on the top plate, which will act as the pressurant for the liquid nitrous oxide in our system.

More details regarding CAD, nitrous safety, and other tests specifics to come!

Programming

Programming details are soon to come!

Results

Results are soon to come!

Livestream

Livestream is soon to come!