15 K liquid hydrogen thermal Energy Storage Unit for future ESA science missions

P de Sousa (1) , D Martins (2) , G Tomás (1) , J Barreto (1) , J Noite (2) , M Linder (3, 4) , D. Fruchart (5, 6) , P de Rango (7, 6) , R. Haettel (8) , I Catarino (1) , G Bonfait (1)

1 LIBPhys-UNL - Laboratorio de Instrumentaçao, Engenharia Biomédica e Fisica da Radiaçao
2 Active Space Technologies S.A.
3 LIBio - Laboratoire d'Ingénierie des Biomolécules
4 ESTEC - European Space Research and Technology Centre
5 NEEL - MNM - Micro et NanoMagnétisme
6 CRETA - Consortium de Recherches pour l'Emergence des Technologies Avancées
7 NEEL - MRS - Matériaux, Rayonnements, Structure
8 NEEL - ExpE - Ingénierie Expérimentale

A thermal Energy Storage Unit (ESU) using liquid hydrogen has been developed as a solution for absorbing the heat peaks released by the recycling phase of a 300 mK cooler that is a part of the cryogenic chain of one of ESA's new satellites for science missions. This device is capable of storing 400 J of thermal energy between 15 and 16 K by taking advantage of the liquid-to-vapor latent heat of hydrogen in a closed system. This paper describes some results obtained with the development model of the ESU under different configurations and using two types of hydrogen storage: a large expansion volume for ground testing and a much more compact unit, suitable for space applications and that can comply with ESA's mass budget.

Domaines: Physique [physics]

P de Sousa, D Martins, G Tomás, J Barreto, J Noite, et al.. 15 K liquid hydrogen thermal Energy Storage Unit for future ESA science missions. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 2015, 101, pp.012191. ⟨10.1088/1757-899X/101/1/012191⟩. ⟨hal-01590196⟩