{"project":{"acronym":"","projectId":8120,"title":"Thermal Management System for Long-Lived Venus Landers","primaryTaxonomyNodes":[{"taxonomyNodeId":10931,"taxonomyRootId":8816,"parentNodeId":10929,"level":3,"code":"TX14.2.2","title":"Heat Transport","definition":"Heat transport enables moving waste energy from a vehicle component and/or system for either rejection to the environment or re-use elsewhere within the vehicle. This area includes technologies for both spacecraft and electrified aircraft propulsion thermal management. The transport of energy is accomplished using active and/or passive capabilities within a thermal control system. Technologies include those items that can more effectively transfer heat, as well as methods to advance robustness, life, efficiency, and temperature range of operability.","exampleTechnologies":"Heat pipes (e.g. constant conductance, variable conductance, diode), capillary pumped fluid loops, loop heat pipes, mechanically pumped fluid loops (e.g., single phase and two phase), thermal straps, forced air cooling (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC)), fans, heat pumps (e.g., thermoelectric coolers, vapor compression systems), vapor cooling, heat switches (e.g. paraffin, coefficient of thermal expansion, shape memory alloys), solid state conduction bars/doublers (e.g. high thermal conductivity composites), loop heat pipe and high heat load transport (500 kW - 1 MW), two phase heat transport and pool boiling","hasChildren":false,"hasInteriorContent":true}],"startTrl":3,"currentTrl":5,"endTrl":5,"benefits":"One commercial application is VCHP heat exchangers in fuel cell reformers. In a fuel cell reformer, diesel fuel and air pass through a series of high temperature reactors to generate hydrogen. The operating temperature of the reactors must be closely controlled to maintain their chemical equilibrium. The current scheme uses a bypass valve, which has several drawbacks: it requires active control, requires power, and has a large pressure drop. A VCHP heat exchanger can replace the current heat exchanger and control system with a passive system that automatically maintains the output stream from the heat exchanger at a constant temperature.
The immediate application is for a long-lived Venus lander that contains a Stirling system integrated with a large number of GPHS modules. The thermal management system will efficiently collect the heat from the GPHS modules and deliver it to the Stirling engine. The thermal management system will allow the Stirling convertors to be shutoff during the transit to Venus. More generally, the systems developed on this program are applicable to all NASA missions with high powered radioisotope systems that require a large number of GPHS modules. Beside the Venus mission applications, the technology is applicable to lunar missions for both long (habitation modules) and short duration (International Lunar Network).","description":"Long-lived Venus landers require power and cooling. Heat from the roughly 64 General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) modules must be delivered to the convertor with minimal ÄT. The cooling system must be shutoff during the transit to Venus without overheating the GPHS modules. This program will develop an alkali metal Variable Conductance Heat Pipe (VCHP) integrated with a two-phase heat collection/transport package (HTP) between the GPHS stack and the convertor. The VCHP allows the Stirling converter to be shutoff during transit to Venus. The two-phase HTP minimizes the temperature drop between the multi-GPHS stack and the heater head. The HTP is required due to the large number of modules that must be interfaced, and the low allowable ÄT between the heater head temperature of 1200oC and the maximum allowable iridium cladding temperature in the GPHS (1266oC). The HTP also improves the convertor efficiency by decreasing the temperature non-uniformities at the high heat flux interface of the hot end of the heater head. It is superior to pumped liquid systems for transferring heat, because it eliminates the low efficiency liquid metal pump that they require. Other advantages of the system include low mass and volume, and a high degree of redundancy.","startYear":2010,"startMonth":1,"endYear":2010,"endMonth":7,"statusDescription":"Completed","principalInvestigators":[{"contactId":58687,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Calin","lastName":"Tarau","fullName":"Calin Tarau","fullNameInverted":"Tarau, Calin","primaryEmail":"calin.tarau@1-ACT.com","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"programDirectors":[{"contactId":206378,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Jason","lastName":"Kessler","fullName":"Jason L Kessler","fullNameInverted":"Kessler, Jason L","middleInitial":"L","primaryEmail":"jason.l.kessler@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"programExecutives":[{"contactId":215154,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Jennifer","lastName":"Gustetic","fullName":"Jennifer L Gustetic","fullNameInverted":"Gustetic, Jennifer L","middleInitial":"L","primaryEmail":"jennifer.l.gustetic@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"programManagers":[{"contactId":62051,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Carlos","lastName":"Torrez","fullName":"Carlos Torrez","fullNameInverted":"Torrez, Carlos","primaryEmail":"carlos.torrez@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"projectManagers":[{"contactId":3164278,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Rodger","lastName":"Dyson","fullName":"Rodger Dyson","fullNameInverted":"Dyson, Rodger","primaryEmail":"Rodger.W.Dyson@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false},{"contactId":461333,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Theresa","lastName":"Stanley","fullName":"Theresa M Stanley","fullNameInverted":"Stanley, Theresa M","middleInitial":"M","primaryEmail":"theresa.m.stanley@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"website":"","libraryItems":[],"transitions":[{"transitionId":64185,"projectId":8120,"transitionDate":"2010-07-01","path":"Closed Out","closeoutDocuments":[{"title":"Final Summary Chart","file":{"fileExtension":"ppt","fileId":304737,"fileName":"SBIR_2009_1_FSC_S3.03-8061","fileSize":219136,"objectId":64185,"objectType":{"lkuCodeId":1841,"code":"TRANSITION_FILES","description":"Transition Files","lkuCodeTypeId":182,"lkuCodeType":{"codeType":"OBJECT_TYPE","description":"Object Type"}},"fileSizeString":"214.0 KB"},"transitionId":64185,"fileId":304737}],"infoText":"Closed out","infoTextExtra":"","dateText":"July 2010"},{"transitionId":64186,"projectId":8120,"partner":"Other","transitionDate":"2011-06-01","path":"Advanced To","relatedProjectId":9730,"relatedProject":{"acronym":"","projectId":9730,"title":"Thermal Management System for Long-Lived Venus Landers","startTrl":4,"currentTrl":6,"endTrl":6,"benefits":"One potential commercial application based on a current product line at ACT is pressure-controlled isothermal furnace liners. An isothermal furnace liner is an annular alkali metal heat pipe. Replacing the current heat pipe with a pressure controlled VCHP will allow much tighter temperature control. A second commercial application is alkali metal VCHPs in fuel cell reformers. In a fuel cell reformer, diesel fuel and air pass through a series of high temperature reactors to generate hydrogen. The operating temperature of the reactors must be closely controlled to maintain their chemical equilibrium. A typical system must maintain inlet and outlet temperatures within ±30oC despite a turndown ratio of 5:1 in reactant flow rate. The current scheme uses a bypass valve, which has several drawbacks: it requires active control, requires power, and has a large pressure drop. ACT believes that alkali metal VCHP heat exchangers can replace the current heat exchanger and control system with a passive system that automatically maintains the output stream from the heat exchanger at a constant temperature.
The immediate application for this proposal is thermal management for a long-lived Venus lander that is cooled with a Stirling system integrated with a large number of GPHS modules. The thermal management system will efficiently collect the heat from the GPHS modules and deliver it to the Stirling engine. In addition, the thermal management system will allow the Stirling convertors and cooling to be shut off during the transit to Venus, saving heater head life. More generally, the systems developed on this program are applicable to all NASA missions with high powered radioisotope systems that require a large number of GPHS modules. In particular, the system will allow the use of alternative isotopes with a shorter half-life than Pu-238. The excess heat is passively rejected. In addition, the heat collection system is useful for smaller systems that use the less efficient Am-241 based GPHS modules, because they require a larger number of modules than the systems with the standard GPHS modules. Backup cooling is also an important feature that is needed in almost all missions (and ground testing) that use GPHS modules. Beside the Venus mission applications, Beside the Venus mission applications, the developed system is applicable to deep space missions powered by alternate radioisotopes, as well as missions to other high temperature locations in the Solar System.","description":"The overall program objective is to develop a high-temperature passive thermal management system for the Radioisotope Power Conversion system that energizes the refrigeration system applicable to Venus missions. The innovation consists of a high temperature alkali metal variable conductance heat pipe (VCHP) integrated with a two-phase heat collection / transport package from the General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) stack to the Stirling convertor heater head. The thermal management system collects the heat from the GPHS modules, and delivers heat as required to the Stirling system. Any excess heat is removed by the VCHP. Excess heat must be removed when the Stirling system is shut down, or in the early stages of a mission powered by a short-life radioisotope. In Phase I, it was demonstrated experimentally and theoretically that the VCHP allows the Stirling convertor to: stop during transit to Venus, pre-cool the system before re-entry, work on Venus and execute brief stoppages on Venus. The reservoir is exposed to the environment temperature during the mission and this is a key for the HTTMS to work passively. The other component of the system, the two-phase heat transport package (HTP), minimizes the temperature drop between the multi-GPHS stack and the heater head. In Phase II, a full scale HTTMS will be designed and a representative multi-segment of the full scale HTTMS will be build and tested in relevant environment. This multi-segment contains two or three parallel/redundant heat paths from the simulated GPHS stack to the heater head simulator, in addition to the backup cooling system (VCHP). The full-scale multi-segment HTTMS will be integrated and tested with the corresponding full scale multi-segment of the Intermediate Temperature Thermal Management System (ITTMS) of the Venus Lander.","startYear":2011,"startMonth":6,"endYear":2013,"endMonth":5,"statusDescription":"Completed","website":"","program":{"acronym":"SBIR/STTR","active":true,"description":"
The NASA SBIR and STTR programs fund the research, development, and demonstration of innovative technologies that fulfill NASA needs as described in the annual Solicitations and have significant potential for successful commercialization. If you are a small business concern (SBC) with 500 or fewer employees or a non-profit RI such as a university or a research laboratory with ties to an SBC, then NASA encourages you to learn more about the SBIR and STTR programs as a potential source of seed funding for the development of your innovations.
The SBIR and STTR programs have 3 phases:
The SBIR and STTR Phase I contracts last for 6 months with a maximum funding of $125,000, and Phase II contracts last for 24 months with a maximum funding of $750,000 - $1.5 million.
Opportunity for Continued Technology Development Post-Phase II:
The NASA SBIR/STTR Program currently has in place two initiatives for supporting its small business partners past the basic Phase I and Phase II elements of the program that emphasize opportunities for commercialization. Specifically, the NASA SBIR/STTR Program has the Phase II Enhancement (Phase II-E) and Phase II eXpanded (Phase II-X) contract options.
Please review the links below to obtain more information on the SBIR/STTR programs.
Provides an overview of the SBIR and STTR programs as implemented by NASA
Provides access to the annual SBIR/STTR Solicitations containing detailed information on the program eligibility requirements, proposal instructions and research topics and subtopics
Schedule and links for the SBIR/STTR solicitations and selection announcements
Federal and non-Federal sources of assistance for small business
Search our complete archive of awarded project abstracts to learn about what NASA has funded
Still have questions? Visit the program FAQs
","programId":73,"responsibleMd":{"acronym":"STMD","canUserEdit":false,"city":"","external":false,"linkCount":0,"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","naorganization":false,"organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdId":4875,"stockImageFileId":36648,"title":"Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer"},"lastUpdated":"2024-1-10","releaseStatusString":"Released","viewCount":60,"endDateString":"May 2013","startDateString":"Jun 2011"},"infoText":"Advanced within the program","infoTextExtra":"Another project within the program (Thermal Management System for Long-Lived Venus Landers)","dateText":"June 2011"}],"responsibleMd":{"acronym":"STMD","canUserEdit":false,"city":"","external":false,"linkCount":0,"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","naorganization":false,"organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"program":{"acronym":"SBIR/STTR","active":true,"description":"The NASA SBIR and STTR programs fund the research, development, and demonstration of innovative technologies that fulfill NASA needs as described in the annual Solicitations and have significant potential for successful commercialization. If you are a small business concern (SBC) with 500 or fewer employees or a non-profit RI such as a university or a research laboratory with ties to an SBC, then NASA encourages you to learn more about the SBIR and STTR programs as a potential source of seed funding for the development of your innovations.
The SBIR and STTR programs have 3 phases:
The SBIR and STTR Phase I contracts last for 6 months with a maximum funding of $125,000, and Phase II contracts last for 24 months with a maximum funding of $750,000 - $1.5 million.
Opportunity for Continued Technology Development Post-Phase II:
The NASA SBIR/STTR Program currently has in place two initiatives for supporting its small business partners past the basic Phase I and Phase II elements of the program that emphasize opportunities for commercialization. Specifically, the NASA SBIR/STTR Program has the Phase II Enhancement (Phase II-E) and Phase II eXpanded (Phase II-X) contract options.
Please review the links below to obtain more information on the SBIR/STTR programs.
Provides an overview of the SBIR and STTR programs as implemented by NASA
Provides access to the annual SBIR/STTR Solicitations containing detailed information on the program eligibility requirements, proposal instructions and research topics and subtopics
Schedule and links for the SBIR/STTR solicitations and selection announcements
Federal and non-Federal sources of assistance for small business
Search our complete archive of awarded project abstracts to learn about what NASA has funded
Still have questions? Visit the program FAQs
","programId":73,"responsibleMd":{"acronym":"STMD","canUserEdit":false,"city":"","external":false,"linkCount":0,"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","naorganization":false,"organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdId":4875,"stockImageFileId":36648,"title":"Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer"},"leadOrganization":{"canUserEdit":false,"city":"Lancaster","congressionalDistrict":"Pennsylvania 11","country":{"abbreviation":"US","countryId":236,"name":"United States"},"countryId":236,"external":true,"linkCount":0,"organizationId":2830,"organizationName":"Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc.","organizationType":"Industry","stateTerritory":{"abbreviation":"PA","country":{"abbreviation":"US","countryId":236,"name":"United States"},"countryId":236,"name":"Pennsylvania","stateTerritoryId":47},"stateTerritoryId":47,"ein":"204260903 ","dunsNumber":"126288336","uei":"Z8KVZV3DR7J4","naorganization":false,"organizationTypePretty":"Industry"},"supportingOrganizations":[{"acronym":"GRC","canUserEdit":false,"city":"Cleveland","country":{"abbreviation":"US","countryId":236,"name":"United States"},"countryId":236,"external":false,"linkCount":0,"organizationId":4860,"organizationName":"Glenn Research Center","organizationType":"NASA_Center","stateTerritory":{"abbreviation":"OH","country":{"abbreviation":"US","countryId":236,"name":"United States"},"countryId":236,"name":"Ohio","stateTerritoryId":23},"stateTerritoryId":23,"naorganization":false,"organizationTypePretty":"NASA Center"}],"statesWithWork":[{"abbreviation":"OH","country":{"abbreviation":"US","countryId":236,"name":"United States"},"countryId":236,"name":"Ohio","stateTerritoryId":23},{"abbreviation":"PA","country":{"abbreviation":"US","countryId":236,"name":"United States"},"countryId":236,"name":"Pennsylvania","stateTerritoryId":47}],"lastUpdated":"2024-1-10","releaseStatusString":"Released","viewCount":457,"endDateString":"Jul 2010","startDateString":"Jan 2010"}}