On-orbit performance prediction of the heat receiver for the US/Russia solar dynamic power flight experiment

A joint US/Russia program has been conducted to develop, fabricate, launch and operate a solar dynamic experiment on Space Station Mir. The goal of the program was to demonstrate and confirm that solar dynamic power systems are viable for future space applications such as the International Space Station. The major components of the system include a heat receiver, a closed Brayton cycle power conversion unit, a power conditioning and control unit, a concentrator, a radiator, a thermal control system and a Space Shuttle carrier. This paper discusses the on-orbit performance of the heat receiver component. The receiver comprises a cylindrical cavity, the walls of which are lined with a series of tubes running the length of the cavity. The engine working fluid, a mixture of xenon and helium, is heated by the concentrated sunlight incident on these tubes. The receiver incorporates integral thermal storage, using a eutectic mixture of lithium fluoride and calcium difluoride as the thermal storage solid-to-liquid phase change material. This thermal storage is required to enable power production during eclipse. The phase change material is contained in a series of individual containment canisters. The experiment has been “demanifested” from its expected Space Shuttle launch. As such, the complete flight system will not be fabricated at the present time