Reactor Lithium Heat Pipes for HP-STMCs Space Reactor Power System
- Institute for Space and Nuclear Power Studies, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131 (United States)
Design and performance analysis of the nuclear reactor's lithium heat pipes for a 110-kWe Heat Pipes-Segmented Thermoelectric Module Converters (HP-STMCs) Space Reactor Power system (SRPS) are presented. The evaporator length of the heat pipes is the same as the active core height (0.45 m) and the C-C finned condenser is of the same length as the STMC panels (1.5 m). The C-C finned condenser section is radiatively coupled to the collector shoes of the STMCs placed on both sides. The lengths of the adiabatic section, the values of the power throughput and the evaporator wall temperature depend on the radial location of the heat pipe in the reactor core and the number and dimensions of the potassium heat pipes in the heat rejection radiator. The reactor heat pipes have a total length that varies from 7.57 to 7.73 m, and a 0.2 mm thick Mo-14%Re wick with an average pore radius of 12 {mu}m. The wick is separated from the Mo-14%Re wall by a 0.5 mm annulus filled with liquid lithium, to raise the prevailing capillary limit. The nominal evaporator (or reactor) temperature varies from 1513 to 1591 K and the thermal power of the reactor is 1.6 MW, which averages 12.7 kW for each of the 126 reactor heat pipes. The power throughput per heat pipe increase to a nominal 15.24 kW at the location of the peak power in the core and to 20.31 kW when an adjacent heat pipe fails. The prevailing capillary limit of the reactor heat pipes is 28.3 kW, providing a design margin {>=} 28%.
- OSTI ID:
- 20632887
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 699, Issue 1; Conference: STAIF 2004: 21. symposium on space nuclear power and propulsion: Human space exploration, space colonization, new frontiers and future concepts, Albuquerque, NM (United States), 8-11 Feb 2004; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.1649643; (c) 2004 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
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
DESIGN
EVAPORATION
FISSION
HEAT PIPES
LIQUIDS
LITHIUM
PERFORMANCE
POTASSIUM
POWER SYSTEMS
REACTOR CORES
SPACE POWER REACTORS
SPACE VEHICLES
THERMOELECTRIC CONVERSION
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems