Publicou 4 edições por ano
ISSN Imprimir: 2151-7975
ISSN On-line: 2151-7991
GROOVED AND SELF-VENTING ARTERIAL HEAT PIPES FOR SPACE FISSION POWER SYSTEMS
RESUMO
One design for a future space fission power system uses alkali metal heat pipes to transfer the reactor heat to a series of Stirling or thermoelectric converters for power generation. Artery de-priming by trapped vapor or non-condensable gas in an artery is a single point failure for traditional arterial heat pipes, which can be eliminated by using grooved or self-venting arterial heat pipe wicks. A self-venting arterial pipe has a screen artery that contains small venting pores in the evaporator section that allows any trapped vapor or non-condensable gas (NCG) to escape. A trade study found that the self-venting artery design had higher maximum transport and specific power, compared to arterial and grooved heat pipe designs for a given diameter. Two 1m-long, 1.91 cm O.D. sodium heat pipes were designed, fabricated, and tested; a self-venting arterial heat pipe and a grooved heat pipe. The self-venting arterial heat pipe is capable of carrying 2.6kW of power at adverse elevations of up to 7.62cm without drying out. The grooved heat pipe is capable of carrying 846W, 546W and 346W at adverse elevations of 0.25cm, 1.52cm, and 2.54cm, respectively.
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Guillen Donna Post, Turner Clayton G., Assessment of Screen-Covered Grooved Sodium Heat Pipes for Microreactor Applications, Nuclear Technology, 208, 8, 2022. Crossref