Pioneering MW bimodal nuclear power cycle for lunar habitats against lunar surface threats: A comprehensive performance study

The complex thermal environment on the lunar surface poses significant challenges for applying nuclear energy in lunar bases. A novel integrity-fortification cycle is proposed to integrate with the conventional thermoelectric closed Brayton cycle to address these environmental threats. A novel nuclear energy system solution is proposed based on the new nuclear energy system, targeting a baseline output power of 1.15 MW, along with its corresponding thermodynamic analysis model. The study analyzes the effects of the working fluid state, cycle pressure ratio, and pressure of the integrity-fortification cycle on the energy system's performance in different modes. The following conclusions were drawn: During the lunar day, the energy system incorporating the supercritical integrity-fortification cycle exhibits excellent robustness under multiple lunar surface environmental threats, with a minimum output power fluctuation of only 1.04 %. The energy system design has an internal optimal choice within a certain range of cycle pressure ratios. During the lunar night, the designed dual-mode energy system effectively utilizes the stable deep space heat sink, resulting in a maximum power output increase of 41.7 % compared to the baseline design.