Radioisotope power system based on derivative of existing Stirling engine

Conference · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:187026

Schock, A; Or, C T; Kumar, V ^[1]

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1. Orbital Sciences Corp., Germantown, MD (United States)

In a recent paper, the authors presented the results of a system design study of a 75-watt(c) RSG (Radioisotope Stirling Generator) for possible application to the Pluto Fast Flyby mission. That study was based on a Stirling engine design generated by MTI (Mechanical Technology, Inc.). The MTI design was a derivative of a much larger (13 kwe) engine that they had developed and tested for NASA`s LERC. Clearly, such a derivative would be a major extrapolation (downsizing) from what has actually been built and tested. To avoid that, the present paper describes a design for a 75-watt RSG system based on derivatives of a small (11-watt) engine and linear alternator system that has been under development by STC (Stirling Technology Company) for over three years and that has operated successfully for over 15,000 hours as of March 1995. Thus, the STC engines would require much less extrapolation from proven designs. The design employs a heat source consisting of two standard General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) modules, coupled to four Stirling engines with linear alternators, any three of which could deliver the desired 75-watt(e) output if the fourth should fail. The four engines are coupled to four common radiators with redundant heatpipes for rejecting the engines` waste heat to space. The above engine and radiator redundancies promote system reliability. The paper describes detailed analyses to determine the effect of radiator geometry on system mass and performance, before and after an engine or heatpipe failure.

• OSTI ID: 187026
• Report Number(s): CONF-950729--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES
42 ENGINEERING
DESIGN
HEAT PIPES
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems
PERFORMANCE
RADIOISOTOPE BATTERIES
RADIOISOTOPE HEAT SOURCES
SPACECRAFT POWER SUPPLIES
STIRLING ENGINES
SYSTEMS ANALYSIS