Actively-Cooled Heat Shield System and Vehicle Including the Same
AssigneeSTOKE Space Technologies, Inc.
InventorsAndrew Lapsa, Thomas Feldman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A vehicle includes: a heat shield configured to define a windward side of the vehicle during travel of the vehicle in an atmospheric re-entry trajectory; a tank configured to store a coolant; a pump configured to receive the coolant from the tank and output a pressurized coolant; a heat exchanger configured to receive the pressurized coolant from the pump, transfer heat from the heat shield to the pressurized coolant to generate a heated fluid, and output the heated fluid; and a turbine configured to receive the heated fluid output from the heat exchanger, extract energy from the heated fluid, and power the pump using energy extracted from the heated fluid. A related method is also disclosed.
Claims40
A vehicle, comprising:
- a heat shield configured to define a windward side of the vehicle during travel of the vehicle in an atmospheric re-entry trajectory;
- a tank configured to store a coolant;
- a pump configured to receive the coolant from the tank and output a pressurized coolant;
- a heat exchanger configured to receive the pressurized coolant from the pump, transfer heat from the heat shield to the pressurized coolant to generate a heated fluid, and output the heated fluid;
- and
- a turbine configured to receive the heated fluid output from the heat exchanger, extract energy from the heated fluid, and power the pump using energy extracted from the heated fluid.
A method of operating a vehicle during an atmospheric re-entry trajectory, the vehicle including a heat shield, a tank storing a coolant, a pump configured to receive the coolant from the tank and output a pressurized coolant, a heat exchanger configured to receive the pressurized coolant from the pump, and a turbine having a turbine shaft coupled to the pump, the method comprising:
- flowing the pressurized coolant output by the pump through the heat exchanger;
- transferring heat from the heat shield to the pressurized coolant within the heat exchanger to generate a heated fluid;
- directing the heated fluid to the turbine;
- and
- extracting energy from the heated fluid with the turbine to drive the turbine shaft and thereby power the pump.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.