Small radioisotope thermophotovoltaic (RTPV) generators

Schock, Alfred; Or, C.; Kumar, V.

doi:10.1063/1.49711

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…The use of TPV modules for radioisotope powered space systems has been previously invested (Chubb, 1993, Schock, 1994, and Schock, 1996. However, the performance of the TPV modules used in these reports was inferior to that given in Figs.…”

Section: Radioisotope Powered Tpv Space Nuclear Power Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Radioisotope Nuclear (Fission) Effective System Radiator Emissivity 1 0.9 0.9 System Radiator Mass/Area (kg/m 2 ) 1.8 (Chubb, 1993 andSchock, 1994) 1.8 (Chubb, 1993 andSchock, 1994) Module to Radiator ∆T (K) 12 50 Converter Efficiency Engineering Losses (%) 17 17 Converter Power Density Engineering Losses (%) 7 7 GPHS Unit Mass 2 (kg) 2.08 --GPHS Unit Thermal Power (W t ) 250 (Schock, 1996) --As shown in earlier TPV radioisotope studies, the system radiator can be a large portion of the size and mass of the entire system. Figure 4 shows the system radiator and mass for a system using 2 and 3 GPHS units as a function of the system radiator and environment temperature.…”

Section: System Parametermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previously, TPV has been investigated for use in radioisotope powered systems (Chubb, 1993, Schock, 1994, and Schock, 1996. However, the radiant heat conversion efficiency of the converter radiator/modules considered was relatively low (< 20%).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Advanced Thermophotovoltaic Devices for Space Nuclear Power Systems

Wernsman¹,

Mahorter²,

Siergiej³

et al. 2005

AIP Conference Proceedings

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Advanced thermophotovoltaic (TPV) modules capable of producing > 0.3 W/cm 2 at an efficiency > 22% while operating at a converter radiator and module temperature of 1228 K and 325 K, respectively, have been made. These advanced TPV modules are projected to produce > 0.9 W/cm 2 at an efficiency > 24% while operating at a converter radiator and module temperature of 1373 K and 325 K, respectively. Radioisotope and nuclear (fission) powered space systems utilizing these advanced TPV modules have been evaluated. For a 100 W e radioisotope TPV system, systems utilizing as low as 2 general purpose heat source (GPHS) units are feasible, where the specific power for the 2 and 3 GPHS unit systems operating in a 200 K environment is as large as ~ 16 W e /kg and ~ 14 W e /kg, respectively. For a 100 kW e nuclear powered (as was entertained for the thermoelectric SP-100 program) TPV system, the minimum system radiator area and mass is ~ 640 m 2 and ~ 1150 kg, respectively, for a converter radiator, system radiator and environment temperature of 1373 K, 435 K and 200 K, respectively. Also, for a converter radiator temperature of 1373 K, the converter volume and mass remains less than 0.36 m 3 and 640 kg, respectively. Thus, the minimum system radiator + converter (reactor and shield not included) specific mass is ~ 16 kg/kW e for a converter radiator, system radiator and environment temperature of 1373 K, 425 K and 200 K, respectively. Under this operating condition, the reactor thermal rating is ~ 1110 kW t . Due to the large radiator area, the added complexity and mission risk needs to be weighed against reducing the reactor thermal rating to determine the feasibility of using TPV for space nuclear (fission) power systems.

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Section: Radioisotope Powered Tpv Space Nuclear Power Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%