Thermoelectric conversion for space nuclear powerA lightweight, high performance nuclear reactor power system can offer significant advantages for many space missions. Conceptual design has been completed for the SP-100, a system which utilizes many thermoelectric converters and is capable of delivering 100 kilowatts of electrical power. A reference design, using thermoelectric materials with an average figure of merit of 0.001/K and a reactor heat pipe temperature of 1500 K, is presented which has a mass of 2280 kg not including contingency. The sensitivity of system mass to changes in the configuration and thermoelectric material properties are presented
Document ID
19830046004
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Authors
Ewell, R. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Stapfer, G. (California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 11, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1982
Subject Category
Spacecraft Propulsion And Power
Meeting Information
Meeting: IECEC ''82; Seventeenth Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference