not depend on the level of charge of the storage, i.e. should be independent of the space station's position in its orbit. Furthermore, there should be no need to regulate charging and discharging for simplicity and reliability. The constant temperature level and high energy density of heat of fusion storage offers advantages compared to sensible heat storage where the amount of stored energy is proportional to the temperature range accepted. Due to the influence of gravity on the phase transition of heat of fusion storage media ground experiments and testing are not sufficient to guarantee optimized and reliable TES function during the realized lifetime of ten years or more. This paper describes the relevance of microgravity with regard to the TES, gives an overview of planned microgravity experiments and discusses the results of their preparations in progress. This project is conducted at the Technical University of Munich, FRG, in close cooperation with the Deutsche Forschungs- und Versuchsan- stalt fur Luft- und Raumfahrt (DFVLR; German Research Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics), Stuttgart, FRG, and is cosponsored by Messerschmitt-Bolkow- Blohm (MBB), Ottobrunn, FRG. Technical Problems and Relevance of Microgravity Due to their high heat of fusion certain salts and their eutectics are primary storage media candidates. Available thermophysical data for some relevant storage media are listed in Table I. Their usual high volume contraction in the phase change from liquid to solid in addition to their low thermal conductivity constitute problems in designing the TES in it.
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