Sodium-sulfur battery flight experiment definition study
✍ Scribed by Rebecca Chang; Robert Minck
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1990
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 880 KB
- Volume
- 29
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0378-7753
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The need for high power space systems is anticipated within the next 10 to 20 years. Examples are the Space Station, co-orbiting platforms, geostationary orbit (GEO) platforms, and space-based radar satellites and some classified high power missions. Sodium-sulfur (Na-S) batteries have been identified as the most likely successor to nickel-hydrogen (Ni-H,) batteries for space applications. One advantage of the Na-S battery system is that the useable specific energy is two to three times that of Ni-H, batteries. This represents significant launch cost savings or increased payload mass capabilities. Na-S batteries support NASA OAST's proposed Civil Space Technology Initiative goal of a factor of two improvement in spacecraft power system performance, as well as the proposed Spacecraft 2000 initiative.
The Na-S battery operates at between 300 and 400 'C, using liquid sodium and sulfur/polysulfide electrodes and solid ceramic electrolyte [l -31. The transport of the electrode materials to the surface of the electrolyte is through wicking/capillary forces. These critical transport functions must be demonstrated under actual microgravity conditions before Na-S batteries can be confidently utilized in space.
Ford Aerospace Corporation, under contract to NASA Lewis Research Center, is currently working on the Na-S battery space flight experiment definition study. The objective is to design the experiment that will demonstrate operation of the Na-S battery/cell in the space environment, with particular emphasis on evaluation of microgravity effects. Experimental payload definitions have been completed and preliminary designs of the experiment have been defined.