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Design of a Facility to Test the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator Engineering UnitThe Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG) is being considered to power deep space missions. An engineering unit, the ASRG-EU, was designed and fabricated by Lockheed Martin under contract to the Department of Energy. This unit is currently on an extended operation test at NASA Glenn Research Center to generate performance data and validate the life and reliability predictions for the generator and the Stirling convertors. A special test facility was designed and built for testing the ASRG-EU. Details of the test facility design are discussed. The facility can operate the convertors under AC bus control or with the ASRG-EU controller. It can regulate input thermal power in either a fixed temperature or fixed power mode. An enclosure circulates cooled air around the ASRG-EU to remove heat rejected from the ASRG-EU by convection. A custom monitoring and data acquisition system supports the test. Various safety features, which allow 2417 unattended operation, are discussed.
Document ID
20120016628
Acquisition Source
Glenn Research Center
Document Type
Presentation
Authors
Lewandowski, Edward J.
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Schreiber, Jeffrey G.
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Oriti, Salvatore M.
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Meer, David W.
(Sest, Inc. Cleveland, OH, United States)
Brace, Michael H.
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Dugala, Gina
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Date Acquired
August 26, 2013
Publication Date
August 2, 2009
Subject Category
Energy Production And Conversion
Meeting Information
Meeting: 7th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference
Location: Denver, CO
Country: United States
Start Date: August 2, 2009
End Date: August 5, 2009
Sponsors: American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Funding Number(s)
WBS: WBS 138494.01.04.01
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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