Title :
Incipient dryout in the evaporator of vapor anode, multi-tube alkali-metal thermal-to-electric conversion cells
Author :
Tournier, J.-M. ; El-Genk, Mohamed S.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Chem. & Nucl. Eng., New Mexico Univ., Albuquerque, NM, USA
Abstract :
Incipient dryout in the evaporator wick of a 5-tube PX-3A type stainless steel AMTEC cell and an 8-tube, Nb-1Zr/C-103 AMTEC cell is investigated using a 2-dimensional thermal-hydraulic model of the evaporator wick and the liquid sodium return artery. Results showed that incipient dryout in the evaporator wick occurs when either the hot side temperature exceeds, or the cell electrical current (or sodium flow rate) drops below a cut-off value. The operation domains in which these cells are capillary limited are developed and compared
Keywords :
anodes; evaporation; thermoelectric conversion; thermoelectric devices; 2-dimensional thermal-hydraulic model; 5-tube PX-3A type stainless steel AMTEC cell; 8-tube Nb-1Zr/C-103 AMTEC cell; Mo; Nb-Zr-C; WRh; cell electrical current; dryout; evaporator; evaporator wick; hot side temperature; liquid sodium return artery; multi-tube alkali-metal thermal-to-electric conversion cells; vapor anode; Anodes; Arteries; Assembly; Cathodes; Chemicals; Electrodes; Electron tubes; Steel; Temperature; Titanium;
Conference_Titel :
Energy Conversion Engineering Conference and Exhibit, 2000. (IECEC) 35th Intersociety
Conference_Location :
Las Vegas, NV
Print_ISBN :
1-56347-375-5
DOI :
10.1109/IECEC.2000.870893
