Naval aircraft carrier turning at speed; Really Impressive

[Skippy722]

I find this fascinating. This stuff supposedly has a half life of 88 years. Then it will still be half as hot. Does anyone know how much of this stuff it takes to run a nuclear carrier for it's 50 year service life?


View attachment 179077

Navy reactors use highly enriched uranium.

RTG’s, Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators, use Pu-238. For example the Voyager probes use 4.5Kg (9.92lbs) of PU238 in their RTG’s. Each of the Voyagers have 3 RTG’s that kicked out about 157w of electrical power generated from 2,400w of thermal heat using thermoelectric couplers, or about 470w when launched.

 

[rekit]

Since we're talking about water, thrust, and such, can someone who knows physics explain this?.... Take a large bucket and start filling it with the nozzle of a hose. Like when you wash your car.

As the bucket fills, and the water line rises, you can feel the "thrust" generated by the water rushing out of the end of the hose nozzle under pressure. Then, if you push the end of the nozzle below the surface of the waterline in the bucket, the "thrust" all but completely disappears.

Raise the nozzle above the waterline, and the "thrust" returns. How is this possible, if for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction? Yet the reaction disappears as soon as you submerge the nozzle in the water.

There was no change in the "action". So why is there with the "reaction"?

Excellent question..........

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

I was surprised to read that she was overhauled only a couple of years before being retired, at a cost of almost $700 million. One would think that would have made the case for keeping her around longer. There seemed to be a tremendous amount of love for that ship.

interesting

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

The below picture might likely get me a involuntary vacation from BITOG.. but........ has to be posted....
View attachment 178793

Ain't Ready for Marines Yet (ARMY).

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Since we're talking about water, thrust, and such, can someone who knows physics explain this?.... Take a large bucket and start filling it with the nozzle of a hose. Like when you wash your car.

As the bucket fills, and the water line rises, you can feel the "thrust" generated by the water rushing out of the end of the hose nozzle under pressure. Then, if you push the end of the nozzle below the surface of the waterline in the bucket, the "thrust" all but completely disappears.

Raise the nozzle above the waterline, and the "thrust" returns. How is this possible, if for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction? Yet the reaction disappears as soon as you submerge the nozzle in the water.

There was no change in the "action". So why is there with the "reaction"?

I'll take a shot. My WAG is that the mass of the water on top of the end of the hose has a tampering effect.

 

[kschachn]

Navy reactors use highly enriched uranium.

RTG’s, Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators, use Pu-238. For example the Voyager probes use 4.5Kg (9.92lbs) of PU238 in their RTG’s. Each of the Voyagers have 3 RTG’s that kicked out about 157w of electrical power generated from 2,400w of thermal heat using thermoelectric couplers, or about 470w when launched.

Yes and not to mention one utilizes a critical mass whereas the other is solely decay heat.

 

[Trav]

I was surprised at how large the props were on the Titanic in 1912.

8 Biggest Ship Propellers in the World

Huge ships of the maritime world are propelled by equally massive propellers. Some of these propellers are extremely massive in size. We bring to you 8 biggest ship propellers of the shipping world.

www.marineinsight.com

 

[billt460]

Another fan made image I appreciate.
View attachment 179075

Just to put some perspective on how big that crane is in the Newport News Shipyard.

The 233-Foot Tall, 4600-Ton Crane That Builds Aircraft Carriers

Aircraft carriers are, how to say, big. Building them is a lot easier if you have a really, really big crane. Meet Big Blue. She's the largest crane in the western hemisphere, and she's hard at work piecing together the new Ford-class aircraft carriers in Newport News, Virginia.

gizmodo.com

 

[billt460]

This is sea trials. Full rudder deflection. Maximum performance testing.

The Air Wing wasn’t embarked.

“Like that of a nuclear power plant”. Yep. Basically, that’s it. Two Westinghouse AW-4 reactors. 1200 PSI steam turbines. Condensers with heat exchangers to the ocean.

Desalination plants. Electric power plants. Catapult steam. All driven by reactor heat.

Do you have any idea about how hot that steam is at 1,200 PSI?

 

[OVERKILL]

Do you have any idea about how hot that steam is at 1,200 PSI?

IIRC, it's low temp (compared to a fossil plant), around 380-390F.

 

[Owen Lucas]

Do you have any idea about how hot that steam is at 1,200 PSI?

Off topic a bit, but I worked with a Navy guy who was in the boiler room on a ship. Must have been in the 60s-70s based on his age at the time.

He told me that if you heard a hissing sound or knew there was a steam leak that you do not move. The steam leaking out of a pipe at high pressure is like a laser that can cut your arm off. You have to get a broom and wave it around to see where the leak is coming from. I thought the story was a little wild but at 1200psi, wow I guess so?

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Was that picture photoshopped? Most boats I see in the water, lean INTO a turn, just like motorcycles. I'm assuming it's turning left.

No it’s not photoshopped. As someone mentioned, this type of radical angle is part of sea trials that are conducted on all navy ships. Part of a carrier’s qual is to achieve a specific angle from the water to the deck surface. Hard to tell, but this may actually be a little bit shy of the requirement. I got my wild ride on the GW and can tell you this is 100% legit.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Off topic a bit, but I worked with a Navy guy who was in the boiler room on a ship. Must have been in the 60s-70s based on his age at the time.

He told me that if you heard a hissing sound or knew there was a steam leak that you do not move. The steam leaking out of a pipe at high pressure is like a laser that can cut your arm off. You have to get a broom and wave it around to see where the leak is coming from. I thought the story was a little wild but at 1200psi, wow I guess so?

Its true.

 

[billt460]

IIRC, it's low temp (compared to a fossil plant), around 380-390F.

So steam temperature doesn't go up in relationship to pressure like air does? (Thinking of Diesel engine compression here).

 

[kschachn]

IIRC, it's low temp (compared to a fossil plant), around 380-390F.

Yeah that is low. I think the temperature at the power plant I worked at was somewhere in excess of 1000F. The pressure was quite a bit higher of course.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Yeah that is low. I think the temperature at the power plant I worked at was somewhere in excess of 1000F. The pressure was quite a bit higher of course.

Temperature is the least of one’s worries if you walk in front of a pinhole stream at 1200psi…

 

[Astro14]

IIRC, it's low temp (compared to a fossil plant), around 380-390F.

That seems really low. The catapult water tanks were heated to over 600F, so the steam loop from the reactor had to be hotter than that.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

That seems really low. The catapult water tanks were heated to over 600F, so the steam loop from the reactor had to be hotter than that.

that steam is doing an awful lot of work. The cats could launch your Tomcats at what, around 72k#? My workspace was one deck under where the chains for the anchors were stored (in other words, 3 decks below the water brakes), and every cat shot from the bow felt like a 10mph wreck into a brick wall.

 

[rekit]

Off topic a bit, but I worked with a Navy guy who was in the boiler room on a ship. Must have been in the 60s-70s based on his age at the time.

He told me that if you heard a hissing sound or knew there was a steam leak that you do not move. The steam leaking out of a pipe at high pressure is like a laser that can cut your arm off. You have to get a broom and wave it around to see where the leak is coming from. I thought the story was a little wild but at 1200psi, wow I guess so?

I caught a small invisable jet of 450# steam, and yes I bet 1200 can. We used the broom on our hydrogen tower stairs and piping too. It would catch fire when passed by a leak.

 

[rekit]

I'll take a shot. My WAG is that the mass of the water on top of the end of the hose has a tampering effect.

So if the mass of water in the bucket actually slows the gpm the bucket should fill faster with the nozzle above. Might try that.