Title :
Preliminary development of a milliwatt generator for space
Author_Institution :
Hi-Z Technol. Inc., San Diego, CA, USA
Abstract :
This paper presents the results of a Phase I STTR program to develop a small thermoelectric generator for use in space. The generator is designed to use the existing 1 watt radioisotope heater unit (RHU) which is currently used to keep instruments warm in space. The design and manufacture of the monolithic thermal conversion unit (TCU) is discussed as is a conceptual design of a generator which uses both the RHU and the small TCU to produce 40 mW of power at 5 volts DC
Keywords :
radioisotope thermoelectric generators; space vehicle power plants; 40 mW; 5 V; Phase I STTR program; milliwatt generator; monolithic thermal conversion unit; radioisotope heater unit; small thermoelectric generator; space power; Instruments; NASA; Power supplies; Probes; Radioactive materials; Space heating; Space technology; Space vector pulse width modulation; Temperature distribution; Thermoelectricity;
Conference_Titel :
Thermoelectrics, 1998. Proceedings ICT 98. XVII International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Nagoya
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-4907-5
DOI :
10.1109/ICT.1998.740411
