Development of a High Temperature Liquid Metal Turbopump

High performance, mobile, nuclear power plants utilizing liquid metals require high temperature pumps to circulate these heat transport fluids. These pumps must have moderately high efficiency, small size, low weight, and high reliability. In order to satisfy these requirements, centrifugal pumps directly coupled to gas turbines are utilized. As part of the aircraft nuclear power plant development program, the 3000 gpm stainless steel turbopump described in this paper was designed and tested in NaK at temperatures up to 1300 F.