09-17-2012, 01:34 AM
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Master Modeler
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
Posts: 6,507
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Originally Posted by Bill
How long and how dangerous would that plume be should the valve open?
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That depends on the size of the steam rocket motor--my preferred size is 1" in diameter and 6" - 8" long. Having created jets of steam from comparable volumes of water (in small laboratory flasks with rubber stoppers and glass tubes), I don't think anyone farther away than ~4 feet would be in danger of getting scalded. The actual steam (which is invisible) condenses into white water vapor (tiny droplets of *liquid* water, an aerosol) within inches of the vent tube, and the water vapor quickly diffuses and cools.
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Originally Posted by Bill
Also, we need some way to disarm and safe the rocket once heating has begun.
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Shutting off the burner (or electric water heater) would be one way to do this. Also, since the rocket's recovery system could use the same "controlled slow leak" auxiliary pressure tank & timer disc system as the Vashon/Estes Cold Propellant rockets (the timer discs in the steam rocket could be made of fiber or finely-perforated metal instead of paper as in the Vashon/Estes models), the auxiliary pressure tank could also be equipped with a pressure relief valve; this valve could be manually (but remotely) opened using a camera remote shutter release cable or something like it. |