Construction of Cooler for New Propulsion Systems Laboratory Test Cells

The 50-foot diameter primary cooler for the new Propulsion Systems Laboratory No. 3 and 4 facility constructed at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Lewis Research Center. In 1968, 20 years after planning began for the original Propulsion Systems Laboratory test chambers, No. 1 and 2, NASA Lewis began preparations to add two additional and more powerful chambers. The move coincided with the center’s renewed focus on aeronautics in 1966.

The new 40-foot long and 24-foot diameter chambers were capable of testing engines twice as powerful any then in existence and significantly larger than those in the original two test chambers. After exiting the engine nozzle, the hot exhaust air passed through a 17-foot diameter water exhaust duct and the 50-foot diameter primary cooler. Twenty-seven hundred water-filled tubes inside the cooler reduced the temperature of the air flow as it passed between the tubes from 3000 to 600 °F. A spray cooler further reduced the temperature of the gases to 150 °F before they were sent to the Central Air Building.

Excavations for the new facility were completed by October 1967, and the shell of the building was completed a year later. In September 1968, work began on the new test chambers and associated infrastructure. Construction was completed in late 1972, and the first test was scheduled for February 1973.