Design and construction of a thermophotovoltaic generator using turbine combustion gas

This US Naval Academy project involves the development of a prototype thermophotovoltaic (TPV) generator that uses a General Electric T-58 helicopter gas turbine as the heat source. The goals of this project were to demonstrate the viability of using TPV and external combustion gases to generate electricity, and develop a system which could also be used for materials testing. The generator was modularly designed so that different materials could be tested at a later date. The combustion gas was tapped from the T-58´s combustor through one of the two ignitor ports and extracted through a silicon carbide matrix ceramic composite tube into a similarly constructed ceramic composite radiant emitter. The ceramic radiant emitter is heated by the combustion gas via convection, and then serves the TPV generator by radiating the heat outwards where it can be absorbed by thermophotovoltaic cells and converted directly into electricity. The gas turbine and generator module are monitored by a data acquisition system that performs both data collection and control functions. This paper details the design of the TPV generator. It also gives results of initial tests with the gas turbine