Evaluation of Active Working Fluids for Brayton Cycles in Space Applications

摘要

The main parameter of interest for space thermal power conversion to electricity is specific power, defined as the total electric power output per unit of system mass, rather than the cycle thermal efficiency. For a closed Brayton cycle, performance with two active working fluids, nitrogen tetroxide and aluminum chloride, is compared to that with an inert mixture of helium and xenon having a molecular mass of 40. A chemically active working fluid is defined here as a chemical compound that has a relatively high molecular weight at temperatures appropriate for the compressor inlet and dissociates to a lighter molecular weight fluid at typical turbine inlet temperatures. The active working fluids may have the advantage of a higher net turbomachinery work output and an advantageous enhancement of the heat transfer coefficient in the heat exchangers. The fundamental theory of the active working fluid concept is presented to demonstrate these potential advantages. Scoping calculations of the heat exchanger mass for a selected spacecraft application of 36.4 kW of electrical power output show that the nitrogen tetroxide active working fluid has an advantageous 7% to 30% lower mass-to-power ratio than that for the inert noble gas mixture, depending on the allowable turbine inlet temperature. The calculations for the aluminum chloride system suggest only a slight improvement in performance relative to the inert noble gas mixture.