Evolution of SP-100 System Designs

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

“…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 University of New Mexico's Institute for Space and Nuclear Power Studies (UNM-ISNPS) has developed dynamic simulation capabilities of different SRPSs, such as the space nuclear power systems analysis model (SNPSAM) of the integrated SP-100 system (Marriot and Fujita, 1994;Truscello and Rutger, 1992;El-Genk andSeo, 1987a,b, 1988;El-Genk et al, 1987a,b;Rider, 1989;El-Genk and Rider, 1989;El-Genk and Xue, 1992). The SP-100 system (Truscello and Rutger, 1992) employed an UN-fueled and Li-cooled, fast spectrum reactor, and SiGe PCAs, was designed to nominally generate 100 kW e , and weighs ∼4600 kg.…”

Uses of Liquid-Metal and Water Heat Pipes in Space Reactor Power Systems

“…The baseline radiator panel design in Fig. 17 capitalizes on demonstrated operation and lifetime of liquid metal heat pipes during the SP-100 program (Rovang et al, 1991;Josloff et al, 1994;Marriott and Fujita, 1994;Juhasz & Rovang, 1995).…”

“…In these power systems, liquid-metal and water heat pipes have also been proposed for the heat rejection radiator panels, depending on the heat rejection temperature (e.g., Ranken, 1982;Angelo and Buden, 1985;El-Genk, Buksa and Seo, 1988;Moriarty and Determan, 1989;Gunther, 1990;Trujillo et al, 1990;Rovang et al, 1991;Harty and Mason, 1993;Marriott and Fujita, 1994;Josloff et al, 1994;Juhasz and Rovang, 1995;Tournier, 2004a and2006a;Schmitz et al, 2005;Tournier and El-Genk, 2006).…”

“…A number of space reactor power system concepts have been developed or proposed with liquidmetal heat pipes for the passive and redundant removal and transport of the fission power generated in the reactor to the energy conversion subsystem (Angelo and Buden, 1985;El-Genk, 1994 and2008b;Ranken, 1982 andDeterman and Hagelston, 1992;, Poston et al, 2002;Ring et al, 2003; These heat pipes have also been considered for transporting waste heat from the energy conversion subsystems, and redundant and enhanced performance of heat rejection radiators. Energy conversion options considered for uses in space reactor power systems include Free-Piston Stirling Engine, FPSE (e.g., Angelo and Buden, 1985;Moriarty and Determan, 1989;Schreiber, 2001;Thieme et al, 2002 and2004;Schmitz et al, 1994 and2005), Thermoelectric (e.g., Ranken, 1982;Moriarty and Determan, 1989;Josloff et al, 1994;Marriott and Fujita, 1994;Caillat et al, 2000;Saber, 2003 and2005;Tournier, 2006b, El-Genk, 2008), Closed Brayton Cycle (CBC) with rotating turbo-machines (e.g., Harty and Mason, 1993;Shepard et al, 1994;Barrett and Reid, 2004;Barrett and Johnson, 2005;Gallo and El-Genk, 2009;El-Genk et al 2010;El-Genk, 1994 and2008), Potassium Rankine cycle (Angelo and Buden, 1985;Yoder and Graves, 1985;Bevard and Yoder, 2003), Thermionic (e.g., El-Genk and Paramonov, 1999;Ranken, 1990;…”