Development of an integrated heat pipe-thermal storage system for a solar receiver
The Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) Solar Dynamic Power System (SDPS) is one of the candidates for Space Station prime power application. In the low earth orbit of the Space Station approximately 34 minutes of the 94-minute orbital period is spent in eclipse with no solar energy input to the power system. For this period the SDPS will use thermal energy storage (TES) material to provide a constant power output. Sundstrand Corporation is developing a ORC-SDPS candidate for the Space Station that uses toluene as the organic fluid and LiOH as the TES material. An integrated heat-pipe thermal storage receiver system is being developed as part of the ORC-SDPS solar receiver. This system incorporates potassium heat pipe elements to absorb and transfer the solar energy within the receiver cavity. The heat pipes contain the TES canisters within the potassium vapor space with the toluene heater tube used as the condenser region of the heat pipe. During the insolation period of the earth orbit, solar energy is delivered to the heat pipe in the ORC-SDPS receiver cavity. The heat pipe transforms the non-uniform solar flux incident in the heat pipe surface within the receiver cavity to an essentially uniform flux at the potassium vapor condensation interface in the heat pipe. During solar insolation, part of the thermal energy is delivered to the heater tube and the balance is stored in the TES units. During the eclipse period of the orbit, the balance stored in the TES units is transferred by the potassium vapor to the toluene heater tube. 3 refs., 8 figs.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Sundstrand Corp., Rockford, IL (USA). Sundstrand Energy Systems; NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 5391355
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-87-3950; CONF-8706254-1; ON: DE88003153
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Thermophysics conference, San Antonio, TX, USA, 27 Jun 1987; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
25 ENERGY STORAGE
SPACECRAFT POWER SUPPLIES
SOLAR RECEIVERS
THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE EQUIPMENT
DESIGN
HEAT PIPES
LITHIUM HYDROXIDES
RANKINE CYCLE
TOLUENE
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
ALKYLATED AROMATICS
AROMATICS
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENT
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROXIDES
LITHIUM COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POWER SUPPLIES
THERMODYNAMIC CYCLES
140700* - Solar Thermal Power Systems
250600 - Energy Storage- Thermal