SUNPOWER ROBUST STIRLING CONVERTOR (SRSC) PROJECT OVERVIEW
In October 2017, the team of Sunpower and Aerojet Rocketdyne were awarded of a development contract by NASA GRC under NASAs ROSES 2016 Announcement of Opportunity. The contract is in support of the Radioisotope Power Source (RPS) offices goal of developing a robust, dynamic RPS for potential future flight missions. Sunpowers proposed design the Sunpower Robust Stirling Convertor (SRSC) implements robustness improvements identified in the point of departure, high performance free-piston Stirling convertor design the Advanced Stirling Convertor Engineering Unit (ASC-E3). New, key requirements for potential RPS missions have been added to project, and the expectation is the convertor produced in this contract will enable a 250W to 500W generator. Based on a modular design, the SRSC is predicted to enable a range of generators with variable levels of redundancy from 250W to 500W. This paper will focus on Phase II of the SRSC project, present the SRSC predicted performance, and highlight design improvements made to increase robustness while maintaining high performance and specific power.
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