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POWER SYSTEMS
Title: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
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THIS PROJECT INVESTIGATES THE DESIGN, FABRICATION, TESTING, AND DEMONSTRATION OF A LIGHTWEIGHT, HIGH EFFICIENCY, COMPACTLINEAR ALTERNATOR FOR FREE-PISTON-STIRLING-ENGINE (FPSE) SPACEPOWER CONVERSION SYSTEMS. THE FEASIBILITY, LIMITATIONSAND POTENTIAL OF THE NEW ALTERNATOR CONCEPT IS ASSESSED THROUGH ANALYSES AND TESTING TO DETERMINE: (1) SPECIFIC WEIGHT AS A FUNCTION OF EFFICIENCY, SIZE, AND FREQUENCY, (2) CONTROLLABILITY, (3) RESPONSE TO TRANSIENT LOADS, (4) VOLTAGE WAVEFORM AND ALTERNATOR EFFICIENCY AS A FUNCTION OF THE LOAD, AND (5) COST-EFFECTIVENESS. BASED UPON PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS, THE LINEAR ALTERNATOR CONCEPT, WHEN SUCCESSFULLY DEVELOPED AND MATED WITH A DYNAMICALLY BALANCEDFPSE, OFFERS A SPACE-QUALIFIED ELECTRIC POWER PLANT HAVING POTENTIAL SPECIFIC WEIGHTS OF 1 KG/KW(E) AND AN OVERALL BUS-BAR EFFICIENCY OF 40% USING 1500 K HEAT INPUT BY LITHIUMHEAT PIPES AND 750 K HEAT REJECTION BY POTASSIUM HEAT PIPE RADIATORS.
* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *