Prometeos

Guayaquil | Exploring Venus Together

BEYOND 60 DAYS

High-Level Project Summary

The “Beyond 60 days” Project is an uninterruptible power supply system that will keep the different devices that are part of the exploration missions to Venus in operation.The challenge is to keep the exploration platforms energized for a minimum of 60 days in hostile conditions with high surface temperatures of Venus of around 460 C and an atmospheric pressure of 94 bar.The implementation of an analogous energy system is proposed, made up of a set of thermocouples that supply 24 volts to different instruments of the rover, which will be interconnected to a high-performance batteries pack cover with a thermal insulation.

Link to Final Project

https://github.com/winsis/Nasa-SpaceApps-2022---Exploring-Venus-Together-

Link to Project "Demo"

https://youtu.be/NUSn5IkxbKQ

Detailed Project Description

2.1. Power Supply Components

2.1.1. Thermocouple

The thermocouple type N (Ni – Cr – Si) – (Ni – Cr – Mg) is composed of positive wire 14% chrome, 1.4% silicon and 84.6% nickel: and the negative thread of 0.4% silicon and 95.6% nickel. Protected with beryllium oxide insulation and a molybdenum and tantalum jacket (See figure 1)

Figure 1: Placa de Termopar

2.1.2. Thermocouple plate

Each plate has 850 thermocouples that generate a total of 12 volts at an average temperature of 450ºC.

Two plates are connected in series adding up to a total of 24 volts. As a redundant energy system, 2 thermocouple plates are added in parallel. (See Figure 2).

Figure 2: Thermocouple plate assembly

2.2.. Energy storage system components

2.2.1. Batteries

Several high temperature batteries have been developed for electric vehicle applications. Three successful batteries that can work between 250°C and 450°C are: LiAl-FeS2, Na-S and Na-metal chloride. These batteries offer a relatively high specific energy compared to aqueous rechargeable batteries and also a good specific power. Therefore, the batteries are very suitable for long-term missions on the surface of Venus. The Sodium-Nickel Chloride Battery (Na-NiCl2) has been selected because it allows a temperature of up to 500 ºC.

2.2.2 VOLCANIC WOOL / AIRGEL

It is proposed to cover batteries with All-Ceramic SiC Airgel and stone wool fiber to overcome the high temperatures that they will be subjected to.

Figure 3: Battery heat protection diagram

2.3. Equipment and operation

The proposal is to equip the Rover automaton (See figure 4) with the uninterruptible power source based on the set of thermocouples connected in series (See figure 2), which feed the batteries with a special coating (See figure 3).

Figure 4: Power supply and battery system flow diagram

Venus has an average temperature of 460 °C, a hostile and infernal environment which is taken as an advantage to generate energy of 24 volts with 1500 thermocouples. It is expected that this energy could have redundancy in the power supply with 2 additional thermocouple plates in which additional 24 volts are generated in case of failure of the first set of thermocouples. Having said that, the total number of thermocouples is 300.

The advantage of using thermocouples as a primary energy source is due to the fact that it adapts to the mechanical system of the autonomous rover. Consequently, it is analogous, its manufacture does not generate high costs, it is easy to implement, and it is fed by the temperature of the atmosphere of Venus.

It is expected that with use of N-type thermocouples and the special coating on the Sodium-Nickel Chloride batteries, they could keep themselves running for at least 60 days on the surface of Venus.

In addition, an alternate energy system propelled by wind currents is incorporated. This system consists in a wind system. When the thermocouple primary energy system fails, the system is activated. Consequently, the electric motors are deactivated and the rolling of the rear wheels, which are driven and directed by the wind, are activated; the vane that is connected to the front wheels causes the turn according to the flow and orientation of the wind.

The tools used in the development of the project are:

Autocad
Office
Filmora
Google drive
Photoshop
2 PCs I7 3.2ghz 16 ram ddr4
2 microphones
2 laptops i5 2.4ghz 8 ram ddr4

Section 3: For the future.

Our system expects to implement improvements in the performance field to expand the capacity and stability of the load supplied for devices that are used in explorations not only in the hostile environment of Venus but also in other space environments.

Improvement of the resistance of electronic components at temperatures greater than 450 C°

Space Agency Data

The article "Energy Storage Technologies for Future Planetary Science Missions" from NASA, proposes a high-performance battery composed of Sodium-Nickel Chloride (Na-NiCl2) alloys which was used to storage energy generated through thermocouples. This was what inspired the “Beyond 60 Days” project.

Moreover, the article “A Legacy of Exploration,” Radioisotope thermoelectric generators, or RTGs, provides electrical power for spacecraft by converting heat generated by the decomposition of plutonium-238 (Pu-238) fuel into electricity using devices called thermocouples.

Since they have no moving parts to fail or wear out, RTGs have historically been seen as a highly reliable power option. Thermocouples have been used in RTGs for a combined total time of over 300 years, and not a single thermocouple has failed to produce power, which inspired us to create 4 sets of 850 thermocouples connected in series that will generate 24V into the system. storage.

The mechanical vehicle on Mars powered by mechanical motion article inspired us to implement a tire rotation and steering system in the event of a power generation system failure.

Hackathon Journey

If we have to describe with only one phrase this experience, it would be like “a rain of learning”. This team is formed by talented people who develop their professional careers in different areas like engineering, software developer, and some others. In spite of the knowledge in each specific area, it was chosen a not only interesting but hard challenge in which was necessary to join experiences of each of us and do a lot of searches to find a solution. The information provided as resources for this program was key to start finding a solution. We share different important facts that were read in some papers which enhanced our knowledge of the topic and was very useful to find a solution. Through this journey, we learned to work collaboratively; we met charming people like mentors, supporting staff and organizers.

As Venus has a thick atmosphere made up almost entirely of carbon dioxide. It exerts a pressure 92 times higher than the earth's, resulting in a pressure-cooker environment. It is covered by dense clouds made up primarily of sulfuric acid. All of this, called our attention to work together to solve the challenge in which our main goal was to generate energy in the conditions of this planet. The investigation in different sources and thinking critically was the best tool to overcome setbacks. We really thank to sponsors, Corpcity, and Nasa Space organization for this opportunity to experience this bunch of learning and delighted experience.