Radioisotope thermoelectric generators (rTGs) and heater units (RHUs) based on Americium-241 for science and exploration

Richard M. Ambrosi; Alessandra Barco; Emily Jane Watkinson; Ramy Mesalam; Hugo Williams; Tony Crawford; Christopher Bicknell; Keith Stephenson; Marie Claire Perkinson; Christopher Burgess; Colin Stroud; Stephen Gibson; Robert Slater; Kevin Simpson; Richard Tuley; Michael J. Reece; Kan Chen; Tim Tinsley; Mark Sarsfield; Christophe Fongarland; Martin Libessart; Daniel Kramer

Radioisotope thermoelectric generators (rTGs) and heater units (RHUs) based on Americium-241 for science and exploration

Richard M. Ambrosi^*, Alessandra Barco, Emily Jane Watkinson, Ramy Mesalam, Hugo Williams, Tony Crawford, Christopher Bicknell, Keith Stephenson, Marie Claire Perkinson, Christopher Burgess, Colin Stroud, Stephen Gibson, Robert Slater, Kevin Simpson, Richard Tuley, Michael J. Reece, Kan Chen, Tim Tinsley, Mark Sarsfield, Christophe FongarlandMartin Libessart, Daniel Kramer

^*Corresponding author for this work

Metallurgy and Materials

Research output: Contribution to journal › Conference article › peer-review

Abstract

Radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG) and heater units (RHU) are under development by the European Space Agency (ESA). Aimed at enabling or significantly enhancing challenging space, planetary science and exploration missions, this programme relies on the cost-effective production of americium-241 as the radiogenic heat source and an iterative engineering approach to developing the systems which include isotope containment architectures, and in the case of RTG systems, thermoelectric generators. The RTG and RHU containment systems rely on the use of inner platinum-rhodium alloy cladding, insulation layers and carbon-carbon composite outer aeroshells. The RTG heat source configuration is designed to deliver 200 W. The modularity of the RTG design allows the 200 W heat source to build scalable RTG systems with electrical power outputs ranging between 10 W and 50 W per RTG unit. RHUs are being developed for thermal management applications. These are designed to deliver 3 W of thermal power per unit. This paper describes the most recent updates in system designs and provides the results of recent laboratory prototype test campaigns.

Original language	English
Article number	IAC-19_C3_5-C4.7_11_x49367
Journal	Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC
Volume	2019-October
Publication status	Published - 2019
Event	70th International Astronautical Congress, IAC 2019 - Washington, United States Duration: 21 Oct 2019 → 25 Oct 2019

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors thank ESA for funding the research program and UK Space Agency for their continued support. Authorized Use of the Licensed Material: © 2019 IEEE. Reprinted, with permission, from 10.1109/AERO.2019.8742245, Rightslink license number 4681520887981, license date Oct 03, 2019.

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2019 by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). All rights reserved.

Keywords

Nuclear
Power
RHU
RTG
Space

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Aerospace Engineering
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

Cite this

Ambrosi, R. M., Barco, A., Watkinson, E. J., Mesalam, R., Williams, H., Crawford, T., Bicknell, C., Stephenson, K., Perkinson, M. C., Burgess, C., Stroud, C., Gibson, S., Slater, R., Simpson, K., Tuley, R., Reece, M. J., Chen, K., Tinsley, T., Sarsfield, M., ... Kramer, D. (2019). Radioisotope thermoelectric generators (rTGs) and heater units (RHUs) based on Americium-241 for science and exploration. Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC, 2019-October, Article IAC-19_C3_5-C4.7_11_x49367.

@article{05728aeffc0442e7a13f4a64607c0d5b,

title = "Radioisotope thermoelectric generators (rTGs) and heater units (RHUs) based on Americium-241 for science and exploration",

abstract = "Radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG) and heater units (RHU) are under development by the European Space Agency (ESA). Aimed at enabling or significantly enhancing challenging space, planetary science and exploration missions, this programme relies on the cost-effective production of americium-241 as the radiogenic heat source and an iterative engineering approach to developing the systems which include isotope containment architectures, and in the case of RTG systems, thermoelectric generators. The RTG and RHU containment systems rely on the use of inner platinum-rhodium alloy cladding, insulation layers and carbon-carbon composite outer aeroshells. The RTG heat source configuration is designed to deliver 200 W. The modularity of the RTG design allows the 200 W heat source to build scalable RTG systems with electrical power outputs ranging between 10 W and 50 W per RTG unit. RHUs are being developed for thermal management applications. These are designed to deliver 3 W of thermal power per unit. This paper describes the most recent updates in system designs and provides the results of recent laboratory prototype test campaigns.",

keywords = "Nuclear, Power, RHU, RTG, Space",

author = "Ambrosi, {Richard M.} and Alessandra Barco and Watkinson, {Emily Jane} and Ramy Mesalam and Hugo Williams and Tony Crawford and Christopher Bicknell and Keith Stephenson and Perkinson, {Marie Claire} and Christopher Burgess and Colin Stroud and Stephen Gibson and Robert Slater and Kevin Simpson and Richard Tuley and Reece, {Michael J.} and Kan Chen and Tim Tinsley and Mark Sarsfield and Christophe Fongarland and Martin Libessart and Daniel Kramer",

note = "Funding Information: The authors thank ESA for funding the research program and UK Space Agency for their continued support. Authorized Use of the Licensed Material: {\textcopyright} 2019 IEEE. Reprinted, with permission, from 10.1109/AERO.2019.8742245, Rightslink license number 4681520887981, license date Oct 03, 2019. Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} 2019 by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). All rights reserved.; 70th International Astronautical Congress, IAC 2019 ; Conference date: 21-10-2019 Through 25-10-2019",

year = "2019",

language = "English",

volume = "2019-October",

journal = "Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC",

issn = "0074-1795",

publisher = "International Astronautical Federation, IAF",

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Ambrosi, RM, Barco, A, Watkinson, EJ, Mesalam, R, Williams, H, Crawford, T, Bicknell, C, Stephenson, K, Perkinson, MC, Burgess, C, Stroud, C, Gibson, S, Slater, R, Simpson, K, Tuley, R, Reece, MJ, Chen, K, Tinsley, T, Sarsfield, M, Fongarland, C, Libessart, M & Kramer, D 2019, 'Radioisotope thermoelectric generators (rTGs) and heater units (RHUs) based on Americium-241 for science and exploration', Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC, vol. 2019-October, IAC-19_C3_5-C4.7_11_x49367.

Radioisotope thermoelectric generators (rTGs) and heater units (RHUs) based on Americium-241 for science and exploration. / Ambrosi, Richard M.; Barco, Alessandra; Watkinson, Emily Jane et al.
In: Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC, Vol. 2019-October, IAC-19_C3_5-C4.7_11_x49367, 2019.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Conference article › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Radioisotope thermoelectric generators (rTGs) and heater units (RHUs) based on Americium-241 for science and exploration

AU - Ambrosi, Richard M.

AU - Barco, Alessandra

AU - Watkinson, Emily Jane

AU - Mesalam, Ramy

AU - Williams, Hugo

AU - Crawford, Tony

AU - Bicknell, Christopher

AU - Stephenson, Keith

AU - Perkinson, Marie Claire

AU - Burgess, Christopher

AU - Stroud, Colin

AU - Gibson, Stephen

AU - Slater, Robert

AU - Simpson, Kevin

AU - Tuley, Richard

AU - Reece, Michael J.

AU - Chen, Kan

AU - Tinsley, Tim

AU - Sarsfield, Mark

AU - Fongarland, Christophe

AU - Libessart, Martin

AU - Kramer, Daniel

N1 - Funding Information: The authors thank ESA for funding the research program and UK Space Agency for their continued support. Authorized Use of the Licensed Material: © 2019 IEEE. Reprinted, with permission, from 10.1109/AERO.2019.8742245, Rightslink license number 4681520887981, license date Oct 03, 2019. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2019 by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). All rights reserved.

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - Radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG) and heater units (RHU) are under development by the European Space Agency (ESA). Aimed at enabling or significantly enhancing challenging space, planetary science and exploration missions, this programme relies on the cost-effective production of americium-241 as the radiogenic heat source and an iterative engineering approach to developing the systems which include isotope containment architectures, and in the case of RTG systems, thermoelectric generators. The RTG and RHU containment systems rely on the use of inner platinum-rhodium alloy cladding, insulation layers and carbon-carbon composite outer aeroshells. The RTG heat source configuration is designed to deliver 200 W. The modularity of the RTG design allows the 200 W heat source to build scalable RTG systems with electrical power outputs ranging between 10 W and 50 W per RTG unit. RHUs are being developed for thermal management applications. These are designed to deliver 3 W of thermal power per unit. This paper describes the most recent updates in system designs and provides the results of recent laboratory prototype test campaigns.

AB - Radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG) and heater units (RHU) are under development by the European Space Agency (ESA). Aimed at enabling or significantly enhancing challenging space, planetary science and exploration missions, this programme relies on the cost-effective production of americium-241 as the radiogenic heat source and an iterative engineering approach to developing the systems which include isotope containment architectures, and in the case of RTG systems, thermoelectric generators. The RTG and RHU containment systems rely on the use of inner platinum-rhodium alloy cladding, insulation layers and carbon-carbon composite outer aeroshells. The RTG heat source configuration is designed to deliver 200 W. The modularity of the RTG design allows the 200 W heat source to build scalable RTG systems with electrical power outputs ranging between 10 W and 50 W per RTG unit. RHUs are being developed for thermal management applications. These are designed to deliver 3 W of thermal power per unit. This paper describes the most recent updates in system designs and provides the results of recent laboratory prototype test campaigns.

KW - Nuclear

KW - Power

KW - RHU

KW - RTG

KW - Space

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85079157696&partnerID=8YFLogxK

M3 - Conference article

AN - SCOPUS:85079157696

SN - 0074-1795

VL - 2019-October

JO - Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC

JF - Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC

M1 - IAC-19_C3_5-C4.7_11_x49367

T2 - 70th International Astronautical Congress, IAC 2019

Y2 - 21 October 2019 through 25 October 2019

ER -

Radioisotope thermoelectric generators (rTGs) and heater units (RHUs) based on Americium-241 for science and exploration

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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Cite this