NASA is interested in Brayton cycle converters for both nuclear powered spacecraft, and lunar/Mars missions. The radiator to dissipate the waste heat will operate at temperatures in the 400–550 K range. To date, nearly all space radiator systems have used aluminum heat pipes with ammonia working fluid, but these heat pipes are not suitable in the higher temperature range. A Graphite Fiber Reinforced Composites (GFRC) radiator with high temperature water heat pipes is currently under development. Previous short‐term life tests indicated that water would be compatible with titanium and Monel heat pipes. This paper presents the results to date of heat pipe life tests with commercially pure titanium, titanium alloys, as well as Monel K500 and Monel 400. To date, the life test pipes have operated successfully at 500 and 550 K. The Monel and CP‐Titanium pipes have operated for 11,800 hours, while the titanium alloy pipes have operated for 3,300 hours. The life tests are ongoing.
High Temperature Water Heat Pipe Life Tests
SPACE TECH.& APPLIC.INT.FORUM-STAIF 2006: 10th Conf Thermophys Applic Microgravity; 23rd Symp Space Nucl Pwr & Propulsion; 4th Conf Human/Robotic Tech & Nat'l Vision for Space Explor.; 4th Symp Space Coloniz.; 3rd Symp on New Frontiers & Future Concepts ; 2006 ; Albuquerque, New Mexico (USA)
AIP Conference Proceedings ; 813 , 1 ; 100-107
2006-01-20
8 pages
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
High Temperature Water Heat Pipe Life Tests
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