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Scientific paper
Jan 2003
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003aipc..654..361e&link_type=abstract
SPACE TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS INT.FORUM-STAIF 2003: Conf.on Thermophysics in Microgravity; Commercial/Civil Next Generation
Other
Thermoelectric, Electrogasdynamic And Other Direct Energy Conversion, Spaceborne And Space Research Instruments, Apparatus, And Components
Scientific paper
Coated Particles Fuel Compacts (CPFC) have recently been shown to offer performance advantage for use in Radioisotope Heater Units (RHUs) and design flexibility for integrating at high thermal efficiency with Stirling Engine converters, currently being considered for 100 We. Advanced Radioisotope Power Systems (ARPS). The particles in the compact consist of 238PuO2 fuel kernels with 5-μm thick PyC inner coating and a strong ZrC outer coating, whose thickness depends on the maximum fuel temperature during reentry, the fuel kernel diameter, and the fraction of helium gas released from the kernels and fully contained by the ZrC coating. In addition to containing the helium generated by radioactive decay of 238Pu for up to 10 years before launch and 10-15 years mission lifetime, the kernels are intentionally sized (>= 300 μm in diameter) to prevent any adverse radiological effects on reentry. This paper investigates the advantage of replacing the four iridium-clad 238PuO2 fuel pellets, the two floating graphite membranes, and the two graphite impact shells in current State-Of-The-Art (SOA) General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) with CPFC. The total mass, thermal power, and specific power of the CPFC-GPHS are calculated as functions of the helium release fraction from the fuel kernels and maximum fuel temperature during reentry from 1500 K to 2400 K. For the same total mass and volume as SOA GPHS, the generated thermal power by single-size particles CPFC-GPHS is 260 W at Beginning-Of-Mission (BOM), versus 231 W for the GPHS. For an additional 10% increase in total mass, the CPFC-GPHS could generate 340 W BOM; 48% higher than SOA GPHS. The corresponding specific thermal power is 214 W/kg, versus 160 W/kg for SOA GPHS; a 34% increase. Therefore, for the same thermal power, the CPFC-GPHS is lighter than SOA GPHS, while it uses the same amount of 238PuO2 fuel and same aeroshell. For the same helium release fraction and fuel temperature, binary-size particles CPFC-GPHS could provide ~ 5 % higher specific thermal power, but at ~ 12% higher mass than single-size particles CPFC-GPHS.
El-Genk Mohamed S.
Tournier Jean-Michel
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