The heat exchanger on a Stirling Engine requires a thermal energy transfer from a heat source to the engine through a very limited area on the heater head circumference. Designing an effective means to assure maximum transfer efficiency is challenging. A single General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS), which has been qualified for space operations, would satisfy thermal requirements for a single Stirling Engine that would produce 55 electrical watts. However, it is not efficient to transfer its thermal energy to the engine heat exchanger from its rectangular geometry. This paper describes a conceptual design of a heat source to improve energy transfer for Stirling Engines that may be deployed to power instrumentation on space missions.
Advanced radioisotope heat source for Stirling Engines
Space Technology and Applications International Forum - 2001 ; 2001 ; Albuquerque, New Mexico
AIP Conference Proceedings ; 552 , 1 ; 1029-1032
2001-02-02
4 pages
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
Advanced Radioisotope Heat Source for Stirling Engines
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