Test Results of Ya-21u Thermionic Space Power System

DynMo-TE: Dynamic simulation model of space reactor power system with thermoelectric converters

“…In the tests, the UO 2 fuel in the TFEs was replaced with high-power tungsten heaters . The model predictions favorably compared with measurements obtained in actual system tests El-Genk and Xue, 1994;El-Genk and Paramonov, 1994;Paramonov and El-Genk, 1994, 1996, 1997.…”

“…On the other hand, corrosion issues with inert gases are benign compared to those with liquid metals, and gas-cooled SRPSs avoid the issues of freeze and thaw of liquid metals. (d) Energy conversion: reactors cooled with either liquid-metal heat pipes or circulating liquid metals are most appropriate for use with static energy conversion such as thermoelectric (TE) (Staub, 1967;El-Genk et al, 2002;ElGenk and Seo, 1987b;Marriot and Fujita, 1994;Truscello and Rutger, 1992), thermionic (TI) (Rasor, 1982;Gunther, 1990;Ranken, 1990;El-Genk and Xue, 1994;Paramonov and El-Genk, 1994, 1996, 1997, thermo-photovoltaic (TPV) (Crowley et al, 2005), or AMTEC (El-Genk and Tournier, 2004a). These options typically operate at high hot side temperatures from 1100 to 1900 K, and some operate at low cold side temperatures, increasing the radiator area and mass.…”

“…The latter, however, may be heated up on the launch pad then covered with a thermal blanket during launch, so that the liquid metal coolant remains above its freezing point when starting the SRPS in orbit. This approach has been used successfully for SNAP-10A with SiGe thermoelectric conversion in 1965 (Staub, 1967), and in two Russian TOPAZ-I systems with thermionic fuel elements (Makarov et al, 1991;El-Genk et al, 1994b;Paramonov and El-Genk, 1994, 1996, 1997 launched in 1989. (g) Operation reliability: it is best achieved through a combination of redundancy in energy conversion and avoidance of a single point failure in the reactor cooling.…”

Thermoelectric characteristics analysis of thermionic space nuclear power reactor

“…The TFE experiment test units were build and tested at Scientific Industrial Association (LUTCH) in the Soviet Union in the 1970s and reassembled in the United States during the TIP in the 1990s. 10 Dmitry et al give some results about Ya-21u testing by the Soviet Union and the United States in the 1990s, including Volt-Ampere characteristics and load voltage optimization 11 Although much work has been conducted on the thermoelectric characteristics of the individual TFEs, few researchers have studied thermoelectric characteristics of the thermionic space nuclear power system, and the method may not be suitable for design and analysis of a new thermionic space nuclear power reactor. V-71 is a prototype TFE for TOPAZ-II, while the Ya-21u has several modifications on cesium reservoir, etc.…”

“…9 Benke et al developed a thermal analysis network method in low power level. 10 Dmitry et al give some results about Ya-21u testing by the Soviet Union and the United States in the 1990s, including Volt-Ampere characteristics and load voltage optimization 11 Although much work has been conducted on the thermoelectric characteristics of the individual TFEs, few researchers have studied thermoelectric characteristics of the thermionic space nuclear power system, and the method may not be suitable for design and analysis of a new thermionic space nuclear power reactor. In our previous work, an improved TOPAZ-II using potassium heat pipe radiator is proposed, and the transient thermalhydraulic characteristics of the reactor are conducted.…”