Design and fabrication of a high temperature solar receiver cavity
- Lockheed Idaho Technologies Co., Idaho Falls, ID (United States). Idaho National Engineering Lab.
- NovaTech, Lynchburg, VA (United States)
The US Air Force Phillips Laboratory has recently initiated an Integrated Solar Upper Stage (ISUS) Advanced Technology Demonstrator (ATD) program to evaluate and demonstrate the feasibility of a combined solar power and propulsion upper stage. As part of the ISUS ATD, the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory and NovaTech, in collaboration with the Phillips Laboratory, have been tasked to design, fabricate and experimentally test a near prototypic receiver cavity to demonstrate that a solar bimodal concept utilizing sensible heat thermal storage can produce high specific impulse (800 seconds or better) at nominal thrust levels between 20 to 80 Newtons. This paper presents the status to date of the Receiver Configuration Test (RCT) portion of the ISUS ATD with specific emphasis on the cavity design and fabrication. Design studies of solar energy absorption, heat storage, and heat transfer to the hydrogen are presented. Fabrication issues are discussed with specific attention on the rhenium coating studies performed in support of the final test hardware in which thermal plasma spraying techniques were evaluated as candidate coating processes. Results of these coupon tests indicate that the plasma sprayed rhenium exhibits good bond strength which is unaffected by thermal cycling from room temperature to 2,500 K and back at heating/cooling rates of 15 K/sec. Tests of similar samples at temperature with internal helium pressures up to 60 psia showed no indication of coating failure. Joining of the rhenium to stainless steel was accomplished using a nickel/aluminum alloy deposited by thermal plasma spray techniques.
- OSTI ID:
- 163422
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-950729--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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