Mass analysis of supercritical nitrous oxide and helium in a recompression Brayton cycle utilizing in-situ resources for lunar base energy system

The Moon is the only natural satellite of the Earth and also the closest celestial body to the Earth. The Moon is regarded as an outpost of deep space exploration. The construction of lunar base infrastructure, polar exploration, and rovers constitutes the first step for humans to venture into the Moon. In the process of constructing a lunar base, it is essential to establish an energy system that can fully utilize local resources. This system will reduce the weight of materials transported from Earth and ultimately solve the energy shortage problem on the Moon. A recompression Brayton cycle that utilizes in-situ resources, with supercritical nitrous oxide and helium as the working media, and evaluates the mass of the energy system. A small modular reactor is applied to predict the minimum-mass reactor suitable for the given cycle conditions. The system mass and specific mass optimization explored the trade-offs among the reactor, radiation shield, Brayton cycle unit, recuperator, and radiator to obtain the minimum mass of the lunar base energy system. The results indicate that the specific mass of the energy system is 17.37 kg∙kWe −1 . In addition, it is found that, by utilizing in-situ lunar base resources, the mass and volume of the radiation shield for the reactor can be reduced by 3.55% and 14.20%, respectively. In conclusion, the proposed energy system scheme offers several advantages, including light weight, high efficiency, and continuous electricity supply, for application in lunar bases.