THRIVE: a digital computer program for the calculation of thermionic converter performance characteristics. Final report Jan 71--Apr 72

Technical Report · Tue Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1972

OSTI ID:7217035

McCandless, R J

This report documents THRIVE - a digital computer program for computing thermionic converter performance characteristics. THRIVE computes converter output voltage, efficiency and plasma property profiles from the converter operating point specified by the electrode temperatures, cesium reservoir temperature, interelectrode spacing and current density. The computation is performed by numerically integrating a set of plasma transport differential equations which describe a low energy, three component, two temperature plasma in one dimensional planar geometry. The transport equations recognize variable electron current, electron temperature, electron kinetic energy flux, ion current, charged particle density and electrostatic potential in the quasineutral plasma. Volume ionization-recombination processes and collisional phenomena are represented. A set of boundary conditions is employed which recognizes the electrostatic sheaths adjacent to the electrodes and is consistent with the transport equations. Schottky effects at the electrode surfaces are accounted for. The electrode surfaces are characterized by field free cesiated work functions which may be derived from experimental data. The THRIVE program has been used to generate theoretical thermionic converter current-voltage characteristics that show excellent agreement with experimental data.

• Research Organization: General Electric Co., Pleasanton, CA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 7217035
• Report Number(s): AD-903666
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
300402* -- Thermionic Converters-- Performance & Testing
BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
CHARGED-PARTICLE TRANSPORT
COMPUTER CODES
CURRENT DENSITY
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
MATHEMATICS
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems
NUMERICAL ANALYSIS
PERFORMANCE
PLASMA
PLASMA SHEATH
RADIATION TRANSPORT
SCHOTTKY EFFECT
T CODES
THERMIONIC CONVERTERS