Dynamic simulation of the thermal and electrical behavior of a thermionic converter coupled to a solar concentrator

Conference · Sat Dec 30 23:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:163310

Perez, G ^[1]; Estrada, C A; Cervantes, J G ^[2]

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1. CUAP-UAP, Puebla (Mexico). Centro de Investigaciones en Dispositivos Semiconductores
2. UNAM, Temixco, Morelos (Mexico). Solar Energy Research Lab.

A mathematical simulation for the dynamic thermal and electrical behavior of a thermionic converter coupled to a solar concentrator, is presented. The thermionic device is a Cesium-filled thermionic diode operating in the ignited mode. The emitter of the device is made of polycrystalline Rhenium and the collector of the device of Molybdenum. The solar concentrator is a parabolic dish. The designed emitter and collector temperatures are 1,850 K and 928 K, respectively. However, due to changes in ambient conditions, the collector efficiency varies and so does the system efficiency. This fact makes it necessary to evaluate the design of the system not just for one hour with constant conditions but also for a whole operating day. The paper presents plots for the emitter and collector thermionic device temperatures and power and voltage for a constant resistance load as a function of time.

• OSTI ID: 163310
• Report Number(s): CONF-950729--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
ALGORITHMS
CLIMATES
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
ENERGY DENSITY
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MEXICO
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems
PARABOLIC DISH COLLECTORS
PERFORMANCE
THERMIONIC CONVERTERS
THERMIONIC DIODES