Design and Fabrication of a Dielectric Total Internal Reflecting Solar Concentrator and Associated Flux Extractor for Extreme High Temperature (2500K) Applications

The Analex Corporation, under contract to the NASA Lewis Research Center (LeRC), Cleveland, Ohio, recently evaluated the feasibility of utilizing refractive secondary concentrators for solar heat receivers operating at temperatures up to 2500K. The feasibility study pointed out a number of significant advantages provided by solid single crystal refractive devices over the more conventional hollow reflective compound parabolic concentrators (CPCs). In addition to the advantages of higher concentration ratio and efficiency, the refractive concentrator, when combined with a flux extractor rod, provides for flux tailoring within the heat receiver cavity. This is a highly desirable, almost mandatory, feature for solar thermal propulsion engine designs presently being considered for NASA and Air Force solar thermal applications. Following the feasibility evaluation, the NASA-LeRC, NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), and Analex Corporation teamed to design, fabricate, and test a refractive secondary concentrator/flux extractor system for potential use in the NASA-MSFC "Shooting Star" flight experiment. This paper describes the advantages and technical challenges associated with the development of a refractive secondary concentrator/flux extractor system for this application. In addition it describes the design methodologies developed and utilized and the material and fabrication limitations encountered.