Design and fabrication of multi-cell AMTEC power systems for space applications Available to Purchase

A 100 watt class AMTEC advanced radioisotope power system (ARPS) is currently under development. Several design concepts have been proposed for this system class. These systems have been described in recent literature. Two ground test systems have now been developed for generic performance testing in support of both the flight cell development and the spacecraft system design. Both systems use an electrically heated graphite block to simulate the General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS). This allows the experiment to simulate the performance characteristics expected from the proposed ARPS designs. One ground test system uses an 8-cell array arranged on one face of the heater block. A second system uses a 4-cell array on one face of a similar GPHS block. System heat losses are controlled using a combination of Min-K insulating blocks and multi-layer molybdenum vacuum foil insulation. A standard 6-tube, PX-5 cell design configuration, under development at AMPS, was selected for the 8-cell system. A 5-tube PX-3 AMTEC cells, also under development and testing at AMPS, was selected for the 4-cell system. The cells and system configurations will test a range of system and cell characteristics, providing a broad data base for continued technology development and system design.