Thermal modeling of high efficiency AMTEC cells
- Advanced Modular Power Systems, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
- Creare, Inc., Hanover, NH (United States)
Remotely condensed Alkali Metal Thermal to Electric Conversion (AMTEC) cells achieve high efficiency by thermally isolating the hot {beta} Alumina Solid Electrolyte (BASE) tube from the cold condensing region. In order to design high efficiency AMTEC cells the designer must understand the heat losses associated with the AMTEC process. The major parasitic heat losses are due to conduction and radiation, and significant coupling of the two mechanisms occurs. This paper describes an effort to characterize the thermal aspects of the model PL-6 AMTEC cell and apply this understanding to the design of a higher efficiency AMTEC cell, model PL-8. Two parallel analyses were used to model the thermal characteristics of PL-6. The first was a lumped node model using the classical electric circuit analogy and the second was a detailed finite-difference model. The lumped node model provides high speed and reasonable accuracy, and the detailed finite-difference model provides a more accurate, as well as visual, description of the cell temperature profiles. The results of the two methods are compared to the as-measured PL-6 data. PL-6 was the first cell to use a micromachined condenser to lower the radiation losses to the condenser, and it achieved a conversion efficiency of 15% (3 W output/20 W Input) at a temperature of 1050 K.
- OSTI ID:
- 400876
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-950828-; TRN: IM9650%%282
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 1995 National heat transfer conference, Portland, OR (United States), 5-9 Aug 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Heat transfer -- Portland 1995; El-Genk, M.S. [ed.] [Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States)]; PB: 378 p.; AIChE Symposium Series, Volume 91, Number 306
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Directed reflectivity, long life AMTEC condenser (DRC). Final report of Phase II SBIR program[Alkali Metal ThermoElectric Converter]
High-performance radial AMTEC cell design for ultra-high-power solar AMTEC systems