The effect of the nitrogen mixture on the characteristics of the thermionic converter

Author

Androsov, V.N. ; Izhvanov, O.L. ; Modin, V.A. ; Nikolaev, U.V. ; Zherebtsov, V.A. ; Lebedev, M.A. ; Sobolev, A.A.

Author_Institution

Inst. of Atomic Energy, Moscow, USSR

fYear

1989

fDate

6-11 Aug 1989

Firstpage

2735

Abstract

An experimental and theoretical investigation of the influence of molecular nitrogen additives (P_N2=10^-1÷6×10² Pa) on the volt-ampere characteristics (VAC) of the diffusion mode and ignited mode in the interelectrode gap (IEG) of the thermionic energy converter (TEC) is reported. The experimental investigation was carried on a cylindrical TEC equipped with a system of dosed gas filling and pressure control. The processes in a Cs-N₂ plasma which cause the change of VAC of the thermionic converter were theoretically analyzed. It was found that the main process involved is the suppression of cesium atoms by nitrogen molecules. A theoretical model of a TEC with simple molecular gas additives was developed, and its VAC was calculated. The calculated VAC was in good agreement with experimental results for the various cases considered

Keywords

caesium; nitrogen; plasma devices; thermionic conversion; Cs-N₂ plasma; I-V characteristics; dosed gas filling; interelectrode gap; model; pressure control; thermionic converter; volt-ampere characteristics; Control systems; Electrodes; Filling; Gases; Nitrogen; Plasma temperature; Power engineering; Power generation; Tiles; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Energy Conversion Engineering Conference, 1989. IECEC-89., Proceedings of the 24th Intersociety

Conference_Location

Washington, DC

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IECEC.1989.74379

Filename

74379