SEARCH · Search NASA
Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Operational leakage rates of various working fluids predicted from test data. Method converts leakage through fixed area flow passage from one set of fluid conditions to another. Correction factor improves correlation of measured engine static seal leak rate under test conditions with rate under operating conditions. Potential applications include extrapolating from test conditions to operating condition.
Solar receiver uses ceramic honeycomb matrix to absorb heat from Sun and transfer it to working fluid at temperatures of 1,095 degrees and 1,650 degrees C. Drives gas turbine engine or provides heat for industrial processes.
Oscillating compressor momentum compensated: produces little vibration in its supporting structure. Compressure requires no lubrication and virtually free of wear. Compresses working fluids such as helium, nitrogen or chlorfluorocarbons for Stirling-cycle refrigeration or other purposes. Compressor includes two mutually opposed ferromagnetic pistons of same shape and mass. Electromagnetic flux links both pistons, causing magnetic attraction between them.
The development and preliminary test results for an air-cooled, hermetically sealed 20 kW sub E organic Rankine cycle engine/alternator unit for use with point focussing distributed receiver solar thermal power system. A 750 F toluene is the working fluid and the system features a high speed, single-stage axial flow turbine direct-coupled to a permanent magnet alternator. Good performance was achieved with the unit in preliminary tests.
Rotor dynamic instability problems in high performance turbomachinery are reviewed. Mechanical instability mechanisms are discussed. Seal forces and working fluid forces in turbomachinery are discussed. Control of rotor instability is also investigated.
The MHD power generation experiments were conducted in a high field strength cryomagnet which was adapted from an existing facility. In its original construction, it consisted of 12 high purity aluminum coils pool cooled in a bath of liquid neon. In this configuration, a peak field of 15 tesla was produced. For the present experiments, the center four coils were removed and a 23 cm diameter transverse warm bore tube was inserted to allow the placement of the MHD experiment between the remaining eight coils. In this configuration, a peak field of 6 tesla should be obtainable. The time duration of the experiment is limited by the neon supply which allows on the order of 1 minute of total operating time followed by an 18-hour reliquefaction period. As a result, the experiments are run in a pulsed mode. The run duration for the data presented here was 5 sec. The magnetic field profile along the MHD duct is shown. Since the working fluid is in essence superheated steam, it is easily water quenched at the exit of the diffuser and the components are designed vacuum tight so that the exhaust pipe and demister an be pumped down to simulate the vacuum of outer space.
Integral heat-pipe sandwich panels, which synergistically combine the thermal efficiency of heat pipes and the structural efficiency of honeycomb sandwich panel construction, were fabricated and tested. The designs utilize two different wickable honeycomb cores, facesheets with screen mesh sintered to the internal surfaces, and potassium or sodium as the working fluid. Panels were tested by radiant heating, and the results indicate successful heat pipe operation at temperatures of approximately 922K (1200F). These panels, in addition to solving potential thermal stress problems in an Airframe-Integrated Scramjet Engine, have potential applications as cold plates for electronic component cooling, as radiators for space platforms, and as low distortion, large area structures.
A parametric study of the defining equations which govern the steady state operational characteristics of the Grumman monogroove dual passage heat pipe is presented. These defining equations are combined to develop a mathematical model which describes and predicts the operational and performance capabilities of a specific heat pipe given the necessary physical characteristics and working fluid. Included is a brief review of the current literature, a discussion of the governing equations, and a description of both the mathematical and computer model. Final results of preliminary test runs of the model are presented and compared with experimental tests on actual prototypes.
Titanium heat pipes are being developed to provide light weight, reliable heat rejection devices as an alternate radiator design for the Space Reactor Power System (SP-100). The radiator design includes 360 heat pipes, each of which is 5.2 m long and dissipates 3 kW of power at 775 K. The radiator heat pipes use potassium as the working fluid, have two screen arteries for fluid return, a roughened surface distributive wicking system, and a D shaped cross section container configuration. A prototype titanium heat pipe, 5.5 m long, was fabricated and tested in space simulating conditions. Results from startup and isothermal operation tests are presented. These results are also compared to theoretical performance predictions that were used to design the heat pipe initially.
A long lifetime Stirling cycle cryogenic cooler particularly adapted for space applications is described. It consists of a compressor section centrally aligned end to end with an expansion section, and respectively includes a reciprocating compressor piston and displacer radially suspended in interconnecting cylindrical housings by active magnetic bearings and has adjacent reduced clearance regions so as to be in noncontacting relationship therewith and wherein one or more of these regions operate as clearance seals. The piston and displacer are reciprocated in their housings by linear drive motors to vary the volume of respectively adjacent compression and expansion spaces which contain a gaseous working fluid and a thermal regenerator to effect Stirling cycle cryogenic cooling.
A computer program that numerically predicts the steady state temperature distribution inside an axially grooved heat pipe wall for a given groove geometry and working fluid under various heat input and output modes is described. The program computes both evaporator and condenser film coefficients. The program is able to handle both axisymmetric and nonaxisymmetric heat transfer cases. Non-axisymmetric heat transfer results either from non-uniform input at the evaporator or non-uniform heat removal from the condenser, or from both. The presence of a liquid pool in the condenser region under one-g condition also causes non-axisymmetric heat transfer, and its effect on the pipe wall temperature distribution is included in the present program. The hydrodynamic aspect of an axially grooved heat pipe is studied in the Groove Analysis Program (GAP). The present thermal analysis program assumes that the GAP program (or other similar programs) is run first so that the heat transport limit and optimum fluid charge of the heat pipe are known a priori.
Titanium heat pipes are being developed to provide light weight, reliable heat rejection devices as an alternate radiator design for the Space Reactor Power System (SP-100). The radiator design includes 360 heat pipes, each of which is 5.2 m long and dissipates 3 kW of power at 775 K. The radiator heat pipes use potassium as the working fluid, have two screen arteries for fluid return, a roughened surface distributive wicking system, and a D-shaped cross-section container configuration. A prototype titanium heat pipe, 5.5-m long, has been fabricated and tested in space-simulating conditions. Results from startup and isothermal operation tests are presented. These results are also compared to theoretical performance predictions that were used to design the heat pipe initially.
An analysis of gas dynamic processes pertinent to the functioning of earth-based and space-based solar electric power plants is presented, with attention given to potassium vapor as the working fluid. A device is described which features focused photon absorption by a nontransparent flowing gas. The feed flow is effected around the outside walls of a cavity receiver to raise efficiencies by trapping reemitted energy. A theoretical study of the interaction of a photon flux with a coaxial particle flux was performed, with the receiver flow treated as a Graetz flow. The critical parameters were defined, including a figure of merit as the gas enthalpy increase to absorbable energy ratio. A small-scale laboratory model was tested in comparison with the theoretically obtained values. Less than 15% of the absorbed energy was lost through dissipation while an 80% conversion efficiency was attained.
Of the many factors influencing the performance of a Stirling engine, that of transferring the combustion gas heat into the working fluid is crucial. By utilizing the high heat transfer rates obtainable with a jet impingement heat transfer system, it is possible to reduce the flame temperature required for engine operation. Also, the required amount of heater tube surface area may be reduced, resulting in a decrease in the engine nonswept volume and a related increase in engine efficiency. A jet impingement heat transfer system was designed by Rasor Associates, Inc., and tested in the GPU-3 Stirling engine at the NASA Lewis Research Center. For a small penalty in pumping power (less than 0.5% of engine output) the jet impingement heat transfer system provided a higher combustion-gas-side heat transfer coefficient and a smoothing of heater temperature profiles resulting in lower combustion system temperatures and a 5 to 8% increase in engine power output and efficiency.
An improved condensation nucleus counter (CNC) for use in the stratosphere is described. The University of Minnesota CNC (UMCNC) has a sequential saturator and condenser and uses n-butyl alcohol as the working fluid. The use of a coaxial saturator flow, with aerosol in the center and filtered, alcohol-laden air around it, speeds the response of this instrument and improves its stability as pressure changes. The counting efficiency has been studied as a function of particle size and pressure. The UMCNC provides an accurate measure of submicron aerosol concentration as long as the number distribution is not dominated by sub-0.02 micron diameter aerosol. The response of the UMCNC is compared with that of other stratospheric condensation nucleus counters, and the results of a (near) comparison with a balloon-borne condensation nucleus counter are presented. The UMCNC has operated 14 times on a NASA U-2 aircraft at altitudes from 8 to 21.5 km.
Narrow Tube carries 10 watts or more to moving parts. Heat pipe 12 inches long and diameter of 0.312 inch (7.92mm). Bent to minimum radius of 2.5 blocks. Flexible section made of 321 stainless steel tubing (Cajon Flexible Tubing or equivalent). Evaporator and condenser made of oxygen free copper. Working fluid methanol.
Internal gas slugs reduced or eliminated. Manufacturing method increases efficiency of aluminum heat pipes in which ammonia is working fluid by insuring pipe filled with nearly pure charge of ammonia. In new process heat pipe initially closed with stainless-steel valve instead of weld so pipe put through several cycles of filling, purging, and accelerated aging.
A very low-power, low-interference Stirling cryocooler is being developed based on principles and techniques described in several previous publications over the last four years. It differs in several important details from those built previously. It uses a tapered displacer based upon an analytical optimization procedure. The displacer is driven by an auxiliary piston and cylinder (rather than by mechanical linkage) using some of the working fluid itself to provide the driving force. This provides smooth, vibration-free motion, and, more importantly, allows complete mechanical and spatial separation of the cryostat from the pressure-wave generator. Either of two different pressure-wave generators can be used. One is a non-contaminating, unlubricated ceramic piston and cylinder. The other is a compressed-air-operated rubber diaphragm with motor-driven valves to cycle the pressure between appropriate limits.