Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) is a new conceptual propulsion technique of high specific impulse and large thrust ,in which the hydrogen coolant is heated to a high pressure and high temperature condition by fission energy originating from the nuclear reactor ,and then ejected from a convergent-divergent nozzle at high speed to generate thrust .At present ,NTP is regarded as one of the most promising technologies which can be applied to manned deep space exploration in the near future .There exist solid core ,liquid core and gas core in history ,among which the solid core is the most mature .Totally ,the reactor is compact with high power-density and high temperature , which requires matching thermal hydraulics design to ensure the heat transfer safety .In this paper , the typical thermal hydraulics processes were summarized based on the investigation of NERVA ,PBR ,MITEE ,and CERMET of United States and RD-0410 of Soviet Union .In addition ,the associated key technology challenges were presented and analyzed .The analysis result will provide some references for the study and design of space nuclear thermal propulsion system of our country .%核热推进是利用核反应堆产生的裂变能将氢气加热到高温高压状态,然后从喷管高速喷出产生巨大推力的新型推进方式,具有大推力、高比冲等特点,被认为是未来最有希望实现载人深空探测的技术之一.历史上有固体堆芯、液体堆芯以及气体堆芯等主要设计,其中固体堆芯技术最为成熟.总体来说,核热推进系统中反应堆尺寸较小、堆芯功率密度大、温度较高,因此需要有良好的热工水力设计来保证堆内的热量安全导出.本文通过对美国的NERVA、PBR和MITEE、CERMET堆芯以及苏联的RD-0410核热火箭发动机系统进行简单介绍,归纳总结了主要热工过程,并对这些过程中所涉及到的堆芯关键技术问题进行了分析,为今后我国空间核热推进系统的研究和设计提供一定的借鉴.
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