Powered by OpenAIRE graph
Found an issue? Give us feedback
addClaim

Loop Heat Pipe with Thermal Control Valve for Variable Thermal Conductance

Authors: John Hartenstine; Kara Walker; William Anderson;

Loop Heat Pipe with Thermal Control Valve for Variable Thermal Conductance

Abstract

It is often desirable to partially or completely shut down a Loop Heat Pipe (LHP), for example, to maintain the temperature of electronics connected to the LHP on a satellite during an eclipse. The standard way to control the LHP is to apply electric power to heat the compensation chamber, as required. The amount of electrical power to shut down an LHP during an eclipse on orbit is generally reasonable. On the other hand, for LHPs on Lunar and Martian Landers and Rovers, the electrical power requirements can be excessive. For example, the Anchor Node Mission for the International Lunar Network (ILN) has a Warm Electronics Box (WEB) and a battery, both of which must be maintained in a fairly narrow temperature range using a variable thermal conductance link. During the Lunar day, heat must be transferred from the WEB to a radiator as efficiently as possible. During the night, heat transfer from the WEB must be minimized to keep the electronics and batteries warm with minimal power, even with a very low (100 K) heat sink. A mini-LHP has the highest Technology Readiness Level, but requires electrical power to shut-down during the 14-day lunar night, with a significant penalty in battery mass: 1 watt of electrical power translates into 5kg of battery mass. A mini-LHP with a Thermal Control Valve (TCV) was developed to shut down without electrical power. An aluminum/ammonia LHP which included a TCV in the vapor exit line from the evaporator was designed, fabricated and tested. The TCV could route vapor to the condenser, or bypass the condenser and route back to the compensation chamber, depending upon the temperature conditions. During test, the LHP condenser was decreased to -60oC and the power input was decreased to near zero power: the evaporator remained above 0oC.

  • BIP!
    Impact byBIP!
    selected citations
    These citations are derived from selected sources.
    This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
    3
    popularity
    This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
    Average
    influence
    This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
    Average
    impulse
    This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
    Average
Powered by OpenAIRE graph
Found an issue? Give us feedback
selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
3
Average
Average
Average
Upload OA version
Are you the author of this publication? Upload your Open Access version to Zenodo!
It’s fast and easy, just two clicks!