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US 9,868,551 B2Granted
Passive thermal system comprising combined heat pipe and phase change material and satellites incorporating same
AssigneeWorldVu Satellites Limited
InventorsAlexander Smith, Daniel W. Field, Armen Askijian, James Grossman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A passive thermal system for use in a satellite and other aerospace applications includes a container having a heat-pipe working fluid disposed in a first chamber and a Phase Change Material (PCM) disposed in a second chamber that substantially surrounds the first chamber. The first chamber contains a wick for transporting the heat-pipe working fluid. The exterior of the first chamber has fins, etc., that extend into the PCM for heat spreading and increased interface area.
Claims5
A satellite comprising a passive thermal system, the passive thermal system comprising:
- a housing, wherein the housing comprises:
- an outer wall having a flat portion and a curved portion, the flat portion and curved portion arranged to provide a semicircular shape and defining a volume therebetween;
- an inner wall having a base and a curved portion, the base being a section of the flat portion of the outer wall and the curved portion extending from the base into the volume and having a plurality of fins projecting toward the outer wall;
- an outer chamber defined between the inner wall and the outer wall, the fins projecting into the outer chamber and there being a gap between a tip of each of the fins and the outer wall;
- an inner chamber circumscribed by the inner wall, wherein the inner wall further comprises a plurality of projections extending into the inner chamber, the inner chamber and the outer chamber having the same length;
- heat pipe working fluid contained in the inner chamber;
- and
- phase change material (PCM), wherein the PCM is contained in the outer chamber, wherein:
- (a) satellite electronics are thermally coupled to the flat portion of the outer wall at a first end of the housing;
- and
- (b) a satellite radiator panel is thermally coupled to the flat portion of the outer wall at a second end of the housing.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.