AMTEC cells challenge energy converters

Sodium-base alkali-metal-thermal-to-electric conversion (AMTEC) cells have been receiving attention. Recently they were selected for the next generation deep-space missions, which need a converter that makes electricity from radioisotope heat. The AMTEC cell, being an electrochemical converter of heat to electricity, has no moving parts and is not limited to Carnot-cycle efficiency. However, its heat source and sink have to be near each other, so the challenge in AMTEC design is to minimize thermal losses and maximize electricity production. This required clever thermal designs. By 1991, high-temperature materials and computer modeling became available. The important AMTEC application was generating power from radioisotope heat in deep space missions. These spacecraft power needs had previously been supplied by inefficient thermoelectric converters     

Deep space travel energy sources

Exploration of the planets beyond Mars and their surroundings is already planned. Astronomy researchers are citing important information that can be obtained with instrumented spacecraft that fly beyond the planets of our solar system. Spacecraft flying these missions need power for performing their functions and communicating with Earth stations. Sunlight in these zones is so weak that alternative energy sources are needed. An alternative power source for deep-space missions is radioisotope heated energy converters.. The choice of heat-to-electric power conversion is narrowing to: 1) the Stirling engine; and 2) a combined cycle with thermionic and alkali-metal thermoelectric (AMTEC) heat-to-electricity conversion. For propulsion into deep space, a nuclear-reactor-heated AMTEC energy converter that powers ion engines can become the best alternative to hoisting tons of rockets into Earth orbit.     

船舶柴油机黑炭排放研究现状与展望

为进一步加强对船舶柴油机黑炭排放生成机理和特性的理解,探索有效的黑炭检测方法和排放控制技术,本文回顾有关船舶排放政策、黑炭定义、生成机理、理化特性、采样和测试以及控制技术等研究进展。指出加强包括火焰内颗粒形成与氧化机制以及润滑油的影响等船舶黑炭排放生成机理研究的必要性。论述船舶黑炭颗粒微观形貌、纳观结构、表面官能团、氧化活性、粒径尺寸、化学成分、元素组成等理化特性及影响。归纳黑炭排放测试与控制技术,建议结合多种检测方法,解决黑炭测试结果的不确定性问题。提倡借鉴车用柴油机成功经验,促进燃料、燃烧和尾气后处理技术的协同进步,实现船舶柴油机黑炭排放的有效控制。     

高温相变单元管蓄热过程数值模拟

对以高温共晶盐 Li F-Ca F2 为相变材料 (PCM)和以干空气为工质的相变蓄热系统 ,采用焓方法建立了以控制体单元为对象的单管相变蓄热模型。在模拟空间站太阳能吸热 /储热器轨道运行参数下进行了数值计算。计算结果与地面模拟试验数据进行了比较 ,吻合良好。     

The IMPACT Solar Wind Electron Analyzer (SWEA)

SWEA, the solar wind electron analyzers that are part of the IMPACT in situ investigation for the STEREO mission, are described. They are identical on each of the two spacecraft. Both are designed to provide detailed measurements of interplanetary electron distribution functions in the energy range 1～3000 eV and in a 120°×360° solid angle sector. This energy range covers the core or thermal solar wind plasma electrons, and the suprathermal halo electrons including the field-aligned heat flux or strahl used to diagnose the interplanetary magnetic field topology. The potential of each analyzer will be varied in order to maintain their energy resolution for spacecraft potentials comparable to the solar wind thermal electron energies. Calibrations have been performed that show the performance of the devices are in good agreement with calculations and will allow precise diagnostics of all of the interplanetary electron populations at the two STEREO spacecraft locations.     

太阳能无人机关键技术分析

介绍了当前太阳能无人机的发展现状,主要分析了太阳能无人机在设计、制造过程中所涉及到的各种关键技术,指出了需要突破的技术难点,包括轻质、高效太阳能电池的研制与应用技术、能量储存与能量控制系统、太阳能无人机机体平台设计技术。认为太阳能无人机作为航空科学技术与新能源技术相结合的产物,其研制过程需将气动、结构、推进、优化等多学科技术紧密结合。     

Heat transfer behaviors of some supercritical fluids:A review

Supercritical fluids(e.g., hydrocarbon fuels, water, carbon dioxide, and organic working medium, etc) have been recognized as working media to improve thermal efficiencies in power cycles and energy conversion, and have been used or selected as the working fluids in engineering fields such as aerospace, nuclear power, solar energy, refrigeration, geothermal energy, chemical technology, and so on. To better understand the interesting characteristic or abnormal behaviors of supercritical fluids, m...     

Acceleration of the High Speed Solar Wind in Coronal Holes

We outline a theory for the origin and acceleration of the fast solar wind as a consequence of network microflares releasing a spectrum of high frequency Alfvén waves which heat (by cyclotron absorption) the corona close to the Sun. The significant features of our model of the fast wind are that the acceleration is rapid with the sonic point at around two solar radii, the proton temperatures are high (~ 5 million degrees) and the minor ions are correspondingly hotter, roughly in proportion to their mass. Moreover we argue that since the energy flux needed to power the quiet corona in closed field regions is about the same as that needed to drive the fast solar wind, and also because at deeper levels (< 2 × 10⁵ K) there is no great difference in the properties of supergranules and network in closed and open field regions, the heating process (i.e., dissipation of high frequency waves) must be the same in both cases. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

先进太阳能热动力发电系统吸热/蓄热器研究

先进太阳能热动力发电系统研究目的是提高系统的效率,提高功率/重量比,为将来太阳能热动力发电系统在空间的广泛应用打下基础。通过对四种先进太阳能吸热/蓄热器的结构、性能及其设计进行分析评价,为进一步研究有发展前途的新型吸热器/蓄热器提供了参考依据。分析研究结果表明采用热管吸热器作为先进太阳能热动力系统吸热/蓄热器,大大减轻了系统质量,具有良好的应用前景。      

Implications of Rotation, Orbital States, Energy Sources, and Heat Transport for Internal Processes in Icy Satellites

Internal processes in icy satellites, e.g. the exchange of material from the subsurface to the surface or processes leading to volcanism and resurfacing events, are a consequence of the amount of energy available in the satellites’ interiors. The latter is mainly determined shortly after accretion by the amount of radioactive isotopes incorporated in the silicates during the accretion process. However, for satellites—as opposed to single objects—important contributions to the energy budget on long time-scales can come from the interaction with other satellites (forcing of eccentricities of satellites in resonance) and consequently from the tidal interaction with the primary planet. Tidal evolution involves both changes of the rotation state—usually leading to the 1:1 spin orbit coupling—and long-term variations of the satellite orbits. Both processes are dissipative and thus connected with heat production in the interior. The way heat is transported from the interior to the surface (convection, conduction, (cryo-) volcanism) is a second main aspect that determines how internal processes in satellites work. In this chapter we will discuss the physics of heat production and heat transport as well as the rotational and orbital states of satellites. The relevance of the different heat sources for the moons in the outer solar system are compared and discussed.     

基于第二动力技术的TBCC综合能源展望

飞行器电能、液压能和气压能的功率需求由第二动力系统单独做功或提取发动机主轴功率供应。TBCC发动机模态转换后,第二动力系统无法从发动机主轴提取功率。因此,需要解决空天飞行器第二动力系统长时间大功率能量输出的问题。分析航空蓄电池、起动发电机、APU、GTS、ATS和RAT的技术特点、发展现状以及第二动力的发展趋势,结合高超声速飞行器的发展趋势,提出ATS/RAT组合和多电超导发动机/大比能的储能装置技术组合是实现空天高超声速飞行器综合能源的技术路线。     

Non-Intrusive measurements of aircraft and rocket exhaust emissions

On ground measurements of aircraft exhaust emissions will increasingly be needed to support environmental protection and regulatory measures. This paper describes research into methods of measurement which can be applied in field conditions and which do not require intrusion into the engines being measured.     

The heating of the solar corona

In this paper a discussion is given of the present state of the theory of the heating of the solar corona by shock waves. Arguments are presented why the main contribution to the mechanical energy flux is of acoustic origin, while estimates for the amount of acoustic energy generated in the convection zone as well as the deviations from isotropy are given. During propagation through the atmosphere acoustic waves develop into shock waves after a distance of a few scale heights in the chromosphere. The heating of the outer layers by dissipation of shock waves is found to be sufficient to account for the observed radiative and corpuscular energy losses.Much emphasis is laid on the competitive role played by the four fundamental processes of energy transfer: mechanical heating, radiation, heat conduction and convection of energy in establishing the equilibrium structure of the corona. The atmosphere may be divided in several regions according to the predominance of one of the energy processes mentioned above.The physical properties of the chromosphere and the solar wind are discussed only where they are intimately connected with the problem of the heating of the corona.The most important aspects of the influence of a magnetic field on the structure and the heating of the corona in magnetically active regions are briefly mentioned. Special attention is paid to the strong channelling of heat flow along the field lines and its consequences for the structure and dynamics of the chromosphere-corona transition layer.     

超长航时太阳能无人机关键技术综述

超长航时太阳能无人机（UAV）以其高效节能、原理上可实现无限巡航的特点受到广泛关注，而其独特的设计指标与任务特性也对各项关键技术提出了较高要求。多设计要素的高度耦合意味着不同于常规飞行器的总体设计方法，低密度、低速度的飞行条件使其具有明显的低雷诺数气动特性，柔性超大展弦比机翼带来了复杂的气动弹性问题，低翼载荷特性与较大的风场扰动增加了控制难度，极端的飞行环境与苛刻的任务指标对能源、动力系统带来了新挑战，飞行性能对能源系统的高度依赖开辟了飞行轨迹优化的研究方向。本文梳理了超长航时太阳能无人机关键技术的研究现状，在此基础上对各项技术中的难点问题进行了阐释，并对超长航时太阳能无人机未来发展趋势进行了展望。     

Possible power generation with nature's high-efficiency technology

The rapidly growing fuel consumption in engines and turbine that power the world's transportation vehicles and power-generation plants will nearly exhaust the world's supply of petroleum by the end of the next century. These engines and turbines run at high heat-input temperatures because their efficiency is limited by the Carnot cycle. Muscles used for propulsion by animals are not limited in efficiency by the Carnot cycle, so we see dolphins getting 3,000 miles of travel from a food quantity that contains the energy equivalent of one gallon of gasoline. Leaves on plants capture the energy in sunlight to extract carbon from carbon dioxide in the air, and hydrogen form water, to manufacture carbohydrates. Scientists and engineers studying these processes are amazed by the computing power and data storage required to make these processes work. For example, a tiny grape seed contains the data and structural technology required for quickly constructing the plant's fuel-producing leaves and the structures that support them. Even the stiff thorn that discourages intruders from entering the grape bush has an effective design. The data stored in the seed specifies the color of the grape plant's blossoms, commands the production of the sugar-containing fluid that goes into the grapes, and even the data content of the next-generation seeds in the globules of each grape berry. In this report, we explore energy-conversion processes that nature has developed in plants and animals. We explore the possibility of adapting them into techniques that reduce our consumption of petroleum fuels.     

空间站太阳能吸热器蓄热性能地面模拟试验

利用相变材料 (PCM)的熔化潜热来蓄热可以保证空间站太阳能热动力系统在轨道的阴影期内仍能连续发电。针对这一核心技术 ,建立了空间太阳能吸热 -储热器单元换热器地面模拟实验台。在模拟轨道条件下 ,对不同入射热流、不同工质进口温度及不同工质流量进行了多种组合测试。结果表明 ,单管工质气体的出口温升在轨道的日照期和阴影期都达到了预期的要求 ,相变材料容器的最高温度和平均温度都处于材料的安全范围内。     

以耐久性和损伤容限为中心的现役发动机寿命控制方法

本文在简述结构件和整机寿命常用控制方法的基础上,结合我国实际着重论述了以耐久性和损伤容限为中心的现役发动机寿命控制方法的基本思想。提出了非单元体结构发动机整机寿命的关注点是翻修寿命而不是总寿命的观点。希望有助于推动损伤容限在现役发动机寿命控制中的应用。      

Energy flux in the Earth's magnetosphere: Storm – substorm relationship

Three ways of the energy transfer in the Earth's magnetosphere are studied. The solar wind MHD generator is an unique energy source for all magnetospheric processes. Field-aligned currents directly transport the energy and momentum of the solar wind plasma to the Earth's ionosphere. The magnetospheric lobe and plasma sheet convection generated by the solar wind is another magnetospheric energy source. Plasma sheet particles and cold ionospheric polar wind ions are accelerated by convection electric field. After energetic particle precipitation into the upper atmosphere the solar wind energy is transferred into the ionosphere and atmosphere. This way of the energy transfer can include the tail lobe magnetic field energy storage connected with the increase of the tail current during the southward IMF. After that the magnetospheric substorm occurs. The model calculations of the magnetospheric energy give possibility to determine the ground state of the magnetosphere, and to calculate relative contributions of the tail current, ring current and field-aligned currents to the magnetospheric energy. The magnetospheric substorms and storms manifest that the permanent solar wind energy transfer ways are not enough for the covering of the solar wind energy input into the magnetosphere. Nonlinear explosive processes are necessary for the energy transmission into the ionosphere and atmosphere. For understanding a relation between substorm and storm it is necessary to take into account that they are the concurrent energy transferring ways. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Energy Deposition in Planetary Atmospheres by Charged Particles and Solar Photons

We discuss here the energy deposition of solar FUV, EUV and X-ray photons, energetic auroral particles, and pickup ions. Photons and the photoelectrons that they produce may interact with thermospheric neutral species producing dissociation, ionization, excitation, and heating. The interaction of X-rays or keV electrons with atmospheric neutrals may produce core-ionized species, which may decay by the production of characteristic X-rays or Auger electrons. Energetic particles may precipitate into the atmosphere, and their collisions with atmospheric particles also produce ionization, excitation, and heating, and auroral emissions. Auroral energetic particles, like photoelectrons, interact with the atmospheric species through discrete collisions that produce ionization, excitation, and heating of the ambient electron population. Auroral particles are, however, not restricted to the sunlit regions. They originate outside the atmosphere and are more energetic than photoelectrons, especially at magnetized planets. The spectroscopic analysis of auroral emissions is discussed here, along with its relevance to precipitating particle diagnostics. Atmospheres can also be modified by the energy deposited by the incident pickup ions with energies of eV’s to MeV’s; these particles may be of solar wind origin, or from a magnetospheric plasma. When the modeling of the energy deposition of the plasma is calculated, the subsequent modeling of the atmospheric processes, such as chemistry, emission, and the fate of hot recoil particles produced is roughly independent of the exciting radiation. However, calculating the spatial distribution of the energy deposition versus depth into the atmosphere produced by an incident plasma is much more complex than is the calculation of the solar excitation profile. Here, the nature of the energy deposition processes by the incident plasma are described as is the fate of the hot recoil particles produced by exothermic chemistry and by knock-on collisions by the incident ions.     

Composition of solar cosmic rays

Summary The general features of the solar particle composition now seem to be clear. The two most abundant components, protons and helium nuclei, have different velocity spectra, similar, but not exactly identical rigidity spectra, and varying relative abundances. The multiply charged nuclei, on the other hand, appear to have the same spectral shape and relative abundances each time measurements are made, at least in the region from 42 to 135 MeV/nucleon. Further, these relative abundances seem to reflect those of the solar atmosphere insofar as comparison can be made. Electrons are rare, but high energy electrons are not expected to be plentiful due to the probable high rate of energy loss caused by synchrotron radiation at the sun. Energetic neutrons were also not expected in large quantity and have not been observed. Finally, there is positive evidence that very small quantities of deuterons exist, probably in an amount which is about 10^-3 or less of the proton abundance.The experimental data indicate that the propagation phenomenon is not purely rigidity dependent. Although the propagation of solar particles is still not well understood, the development of theories which take into account both the general magnetic field and the inhomogeneities in the field seem to hold some promise of explaining the experimental results. The composition data have also established important restraints which any acceleration theory must satisfy, and thereby contributed greatly to the very difficult problem of determining the acceleration mechanism.The similarity of the relative abundance of the energetic solar particles and the nuclei in the sun's photosphere suggested the possibility of having a new means of estimating the solar neon and helium abundances. This very interesting possibility will have to be explored by further testing of the composition of future solar particle events. Finally, it was seen that the composition was a very strong argument against most stars being the principal source of high energy non-solar cosmic rays, and, therefore, special sources, such as supernovae or possibly quasistellar objects, should be considered as much more likely prospects for the origin of cosmic rays.The results which have been obtained thus far on the composition of solar cosmic rays have indicated that further research in this area of study should be very rewarding and of value to many fields of physics. Further data on the composition and relative, as well as absolute, energy spectra of the various components are needed throughout many events. More experiments also should be performed to determine the properties of the rare components, deuterons, tritons, He³ nuclei, electrons, neutrons, and the heavier nuclei. When these experiments are complete, the knowledge which is needed to aid in answering the solar and astrophysical problems discussed in this review should be at hand.