This document presents a summary of work and progress at the Hanford Engineer Works for March 1955. The report is divided into sections by department. A plant wide general summary is included at the beginning of the report, after which the departmental summaries begin. The Manufacturing Department reports plant statistics, and summaries for the Metal Preparation, Reactor and Separation sections. The Engineering Department`s section summarizes work for the Technical, Design, and Project Sections. Costs for the various departments are presented in the Financial Department`s summary. The Medical, Radiological Sciences, Utilities and General Services, Employee and Public Relations, and Community Real Estate and Services departments have sections presenting their monthly statistics, work, progress, and summaries.

The Ferrotherm Company is undertaking a design study of a test radiator. Since January 21, 1955, preliminary designs of several radiators have been completed prior to the selection of one for the final design study. Ferrotherm has been given prototype design specifications for structural design, typical in-flight prototype performance specifications for core-size estimates, test core specifications for their design study, and a method whereby radiators may be evaluated. From analysis of the prototype specifications a matrix will be selected for the test core design study. Although the analysis has narrowed to both a plate-and-sheet-metal fin and a plate-and-pin-fin core geometry, Ferrotherm is more or less committed to pin-fins.

In April, 1954, Thompson Products Inc. formally began work on a program leading to the fabrication of two test radiators. The work done to date is summarized in report number PWAC-127, First Technical Report by Thompson Products Inc. on Liquid-Metal-to-Air Radiators and in PWAC-128, Second Technical Report by Thompson Products Inc. on Liquid-Metal-to-Air Radiators. The first report describes possible radiator design concepts meeting the required specifications and presents an analytical method which was derived to optimize the designs. Thompson Products has decided that a core with cast NaK passages in combination with the sheet-metal, ribbon fins on the airside offers maximum reliability. The second report formulates the analysis of the final radiator design and presents the fabrication and evaluation studies used to select the design. To evaluate the permeability of cast NaK passages, Thompson Products is planning to build a hot NaK flow rig. A parallel investigation on wrought materials will be carried out as an alternate NaK passage type. The next phase of the program, the final design of the test radiator, has started.

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The stall-limit line at low speeds was improved somewhat by closing the inlet guide vanes 6 deg, while the design-speed maximum flow and pressure ratio were reduced. The first-stage characteristic curve was moved to lower values of both flog coefficient and equivalent pressure ratio. The second-stage pressure ratio was decreased slightly at high speeds, while the later stages were unaffected.