Hardware Progress Made in the Early Flight Fission Test Facilities (EFF-TF) To Support Near-Term Space Fission Systems
- NASA MSFC, Huntsville, Alabama, 35812 (United States)
The NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's Early Flight Fission Test Facility (EFF-TF), provides a facility to experimentally evaluate nuclear reactor related thermal hydraulic issues through the use of non-nuclear testing. This facility provides a cost effective method to evaluate concepts/designs and support mitigation of developmental risk. Electrical resistance thermal simulators can be used to closely mimic the heat deposition of the fission process, providing axial and radial profiles. A number of experimental and design programs were underway in 2004 which include the following. Initial evaluation of the Department of Energy Los Alamos National Laboratory 19 module stainless steel/sodium heat pipe reactor with integral gas heat exchanger was operated at up to 17.5 kW of input power at core temperatures of 1000 K. A stainless steel sodium heat pipe module was placed through repeated freeze/thaw cyclic testing accumulating over 200 restarts to a temperature of 1000 K. Additionally, the design of a 37- pin stainless steel pumped sodium/potassium (NaK) loop was finalized and components procured. Ongoing testing at the EFF-TF is geared towards facilitating both research and development necessary to support future decisions regarding potential use of space nuclear systems for space exploration. All efforts are coordinated with DOE laboratories, industry, universities, and other NASA centers. This paper describes some of the 2004 efforts.
- OSTI ID:
- 20630597
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 746, Issue 1; Conference: STAIF 2005: Conference on thermophysics in microgravity; Conference on commercial/civil next generation space transportation; 22. symposium on space nuclear power and propulsion; Conference on human/robotic technology and the national vision for space exploration; 3. symposium on space colonization; 2. symposium on new frontiers and future concepts, Albuquerque, NM (United States), 13-17 Feb 2005; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.1867213; (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
DEPOSITION
DESIGN
HEAT EXCHANGERS
HEAT PIPES
POTASSIUM
POTASSIUM ALLOYS
REACTOR CORES
SIMULATORS
SODIUM
SODIUM ALLOYS
SPACE FLIGHT
SPACE POWER REACTORS
SPACE VEHICLES
STAINLESS STEELS
TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION
TEST REACTORS
THERMAL HYDRAULICS
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems