A New Thermodynamic Power Conversion Cycle and Heat Engine for Space Power Applications

A new heat engine concept has been invented that operates on a new two-phase thermodynamic power conversion cycle. This device exploits the space flight proven technique of using a porous capillary structure to separate liquid from vapor through heat addition. This new thermodynamic cycle, the Baker cycle, is different from the existing Rankine because liquid and vapor are at different pressures and are separated during the phase change heat addition process as opposed to the Rankine cycle where liquid and vapor are at the same pressure and mixed during phase change heat addition. This new cycle also differs from Rankine because the heat addition process occurs at varying pressures and temperatures, where as in a Rankine cycle heat addition occurs at constant pressure. It is advantageous to apply this new cycle to space applications because management of the two-phase working fluid in micro gravity can be accomplished as never before using space flight proven Loop Heat Pipe and Capillary Pumped Loop technology. This new power system contains many components with significant flight heritage. Thermodynamic performance calculations are presented for several design cases. The new power cycle and system is inherently more efficient than single-phase systems because minimal compression power is required. One case shows 31.1% overall efficiency with a maximum working fluid temperature of 637.4 K. Since the heat addition process occurs at varying temperatures, waste heat from the spacecraft could be tapped and recovered to supply a large portion of the input energy. For the example cases discussed, between 63.1 to 84.4% of the total input energy could be waste heat. This new system could be used in conjunction with phase change thermal energy storage to supplement power production replacing batteries for solar low-earth-orbit applications. It could also be used as a power converter with a radioisotope heat source yielding efficiencies over 30% while requiring a maximum temperature well below that of single-phase dynamic converters. Because this new power system is capable of operating at high efficiency at relatively low temperatures it could also be used as the bottoming cycle of a space based cogeneration power system with a single-phase or static power converter being the top cycle.