A Novel High-Performance Mission-Enabling Multi-Purpose Radioisotope Heat Source

Recent studies indicate science mission concepts targeting access to the sub-surface oceans of icy moons require ice-penetrating cryobots powered by advanced Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS). These systems would deliver waste heat for ice-melting in the range of 10 kW. Minimizing the transit time through the kilometers-thick ice shells to just a few years requires these RPS to utilize heat sources having a higher thermal energy volumetric density than the existing flight-qualified General-Purpose Heat Source (GPHS). A Compact Heat Source (CPHS) has been conceptualized in which the graphite impact shells (GIS) of the existing GPHS would be rearranged in a hexagonal aeroshell containing seven GIS per module, as opposed to the standard two per module; offering a thermal energy density of 0.57 W/cm
³
versus 0.29 W/cm
³
offered by the GPHS simply from the repackaging of Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 9 subassemblies. Preliminary thermal modeling of the CPHS integrated into a notional radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) structure further suggests that centerline temperatures are well within allowable limits during nominal operation. Given the need for the CPHS for a subset of mission concepts, it is worth exploring the applicability of the CPHS for more general RTG purposes. We discuss herein how the CPHS may be implemented with either heritage or in-development thermoelectric converter technologies into a Next-Generation RTG concept. Due to a higher energy density, the legacy heat rejection fin arrangement must be modified to permit a sufficiently low cold-side temperature. Preliminary finite element analysis suggests fin-root temperatures could be kept as low as 520 K while allowing the generator to fit within the usable dimensions of currently available United States Department of Energy shipping containers. Such temperatures would certainly be compatible with the use of high temperature thermoelectric converter technologies. A prime candidate is the heritage silicon-germanium (SiGe) unicouple, whose design could be adapted by approximately halving the leg-length, but without changes in hot and cold junction interfaces, which are features critical to the proven performance and reliability of these devices. The estimated Beginning of Life power for a SiGe-based CPHS-RTG using 12 CPHS for a thermal inventory of 10.5 kW is greater than 600 W under deep space operating conditions. Using higher performance segmented couples currently in development that are based on skutterudite,
$\text{La}_{3-x}\text{Te}_{4}$
and 14-1-11 Zintl thermoelectric materials in lieu of the SiGe unicouples would increase the power level to more than 1 kW. The high specific power (W
e
/kg) attribute of CPHS-RTGs found in this study could potentially enable Radioisotope Electric Propulsion (REP) mission concepts. Past NASA REP mission concept studies identified specific power needs in excess of 6 to 8 W
e
/kg. Based on a GPHS-RTG-like system configuration, we show that at fin root temperatures between 530 K and 570 K (deep space environment), specific powers exceeding 10 W
e
/kg are achievable using high performance segmented thermoelectric converters. The compact sizing and power density of the CPHS-RTG would constitute a significant step upgrade in specific power when compared to heritage GPHS-RTG (approximately 5.1 W
e
/kg) and off-the-shelf Multi-Mission RTG (approximately 2.6 W
e
/kg).