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It looks like AlGalCo makes an aluminum-gallium alloy that produces hydrogen + aluminum oxide when mixed with water. This seems like it would be useless in spa
by p1mrx 7y ago
It looks like AlGalCo makes an aluminum-gallium alloy that produces hydrogen + aluminum oxide when mixed with water. This seems like it would be useless in space, because the oxygen is locked away until you run the waste through an aluminum smelter.
- sitkack 7y agoHmm, I wasn't thinking of re-usability for the aluminum. Just that it would keep the propellants in a safe state. water+alloy might be better than nasty toxic fluid + pressurized oxidizer. I am also not a rocket scientist.
- Armisael16 7y agoIt isn’t a question of reusable type - you need to have fuel and oxidizer to burn things. A truck can use atmospheric oxygen for the oxidizer; a rocket can’t. I also imagine that the extra weight of the aluminum pucks would tank your Isp (though I suppose you might be able to make back some tank weight).
- sitkack 7y agoI willfully? missed that the O in the water binds to the Al so is unavailable for combustion (it has to, otherwise what gets consumed?). Oh, another take, it is a molecular pump that removes oxygen from the environment and turns it into water, via burning.