Flight experiment of thermal energy storage

Abstract

Thermal energy storage (TES) enables a solar dynamic system to deliver constant electric power through periods of sun and shade. Brayton and Stirling power systems under current considerations for missions in the near future require working fluid temperatures in the 1100 to 1300+ K range. TES materials that meet these requirements fall into the fluoride family of salts. Salts shrink as they solidify, a change reaching 30 percent for some salts. Hot spots can develop in the TES container or the container can become distorted if the melting salt cannot expand elsewhere. Analysis of the transient, two-phase phenomenon is being incorporated into a three-dimensional computer code. The objective of the flight program is to verify the predictions of the code, particularly of the void location and its effect on containment temperature. The four experimental packages comprising the program will be the first tests of melting and freezing conducted under microgravity.