| Autor: |
Lipinski, Ronald J., Wright, Steven A., Sherman, Martin P., Lenard, Roger X., Talandis, Regina A., Poston, David I., Kapernick, Richard, Guffee, Ray, Reid, Robert, Elson, Jay, Lee, James |
| Předmět: |
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| Zdroj: |
AIP Conference Proceedings; 2002, Vol. 608 Issue 1, p1043, 11p |
| Abstrakt: |
A Mars surface power system configuration with an output power of 3 kWe and a system mass of 775 kg is described. It consists of a heatpipe-cooled reactor with UN fuel coupled to a Stirling engine with a fixed conical radiator driven by loop heat pipes. Key to achieving this low mass is the use of a highly radiation-resistant multiplexer for monitoring and controlling the reactor, as well as radiation resistant generators and motors. Also key is the judicious placement of shields to prevent radiation scattered from the Martian surface and air from damaging the reactor controls. Several alternate configurations also are briefly looked at, including a moderated reactor with UZrH fuel and a reactor using [sup 233]U instead of [sup 235]U. The moderated reactor system has essentially the same mass as the baseline unmoderated UN system and yields the same radiation shielding requirements. The [sup 233]U reactor is significantly smaller and yields a system mass about 228 kg lighter than with [sup 235]U, but part of this weight reduction is due to the use of removable neutron absorbers to assure subcriticality with water immersion, as opposed to permanently placed absorbers. A Mars surface power system configuration with an output power of 3 kWe and a system mass of 775 kg is described. It consists of a heatpipe-cooled reactor with UN fuel coupled to a Stirling engine with a fixed conical radiator driven by loop heat pipes. Key to achieving this low mass is the use of a highly radiation-resistant multiplexer for monitoring and controlling the reactor, as well as radiation resistant generators and motors. Also key is the judicious placement of shields to prevent radiation scattered from the Martian surface and air from damaging the reactor controls. Several alternate configurations also are briefly looked at, including a moderated reactor with UZrH fuel and a reactor using [sup 233]U instead of [sup 235]U. The moderated reactor system has essentially the same mass as... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Databáze: |
Complementary Index |
| Externí odkaz: |
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