Conceptual design of a heat pipe radiator

A conceptual design of a waste heat radiator has been developed for a thermoelectric space nuclear power system. The basic shape of the heat pipe radiator was a frustum of a right circular cone. The design included stringer heat pipes to carry reject heat from the thermoelectric modules to the radiator skin that was composed of small-diameter, thin-walled cross heat pipes. The stringer heat pipes were armored to resist puncture by a meteoroid. The cross heat pipes were designed to provide the necessary unpunctured radiating area at the mission end with a minimum initial system mass. Several design cases were developed in which the individual stringer survival probabilities were varied and the radiator system mass was calculated. Results are presented for system mass as a function of individual stringer survival probability for six candidate container materials, three candidate heat pipe fluids, two radiator operating temperatures, two meteoroid shield types, and two radiating surface cases. Results are also presented for radiator reject heat as a function of system mass, area, and length for three system sizes