Design of RTPV generators integrated with new millennium spacecraft for outer solar system

Schock, Alfred; Or, C.; Kumar, V.

doi:10.1063/1.50066

Cited by 6 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The RTG uses a thermocouple array to convert this decay heat through the Seebeck effect . The General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) using Plutonium‐238 ( 238 PuO 2 ) is a modular component of an RTG and was used for NASA spacecraft such as Voyager, New Horizon, and Curiosity Rover. The GPHS‐RTG generates electric power by converting the α decay heat of 238 Pu into electrical energy using a thermoelectric array; however, the system has a low conversion efficiency of 6 to 7% .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) using Plutonium‐238 ( 238 PuO 2 ) is a modular component of an RTG and was used for NASA spacecraft such as Voyager, New Horizon, and Curiosity Rover. The GPHS‐RTG generates electric power by converting the α decay heat of 238 Pu into electrical energy using a thermoelectric array; however, the system has a low conversion efficiency of 6 to 7% . A high fuel inventory with a low conversion efficiency is required to meet a required amount of electricity output, without which there will be inefficiency in spacecraft launch.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A high fuel inventory with a low conversion efficiency is required to meet a required amount of electricity output, without which there will be inefficiency in spacecraft launch. On the other hand, a radioisotope thermophotovoltaic (RTPV) system typically has a much higher energy conversion efficiency of ~20% because the system absorbs the decay heat of radioisotopes and re‐radiates photons with tailored wavelengths toward a photovoltaic (PV) cell . Previous comparative studies showed that the RTPV with tungsten emitters has a potential to achieve ~60% reduction of fuel mass compared with RTGs due to the enhanced specific power density …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By tailoring the radiative properties of emitters/filters and increasing the quality of low bandgap PV cells, RTPVs have a potential to further surpass the conventional RTG conversion efficiency. Previous studies have investigated the detailed performance of RTPVs mostly using a numerical approach without much consideration of the radiation shielding issues. Such studies have reported ~15% to 25% conversion efficiency by varying the emitter temperature, emitter design, and PV cells.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In most previous studies, 238 PuO 2 was considered as the fuel material to use the α‐decay heat of 238 Pu due to its high specific power density (480 W/kg), long half‐life (87.8 years), and high melting point (~2353 K). Also, the chemical and material stability of PuO 2 has been well verified in the nuclear engineering field.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Design and performance analysis of a 500-W heat source for radioisotope thermophotovoltaic converters

2017

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Summary A radioisotope thermophotovoltaic (RTPV) system effectively converts the decay heat of radioisotopes into electricity via thermally radiated photons. In this work, a 500‐W thermal heat source unit including 238PuO2 radioisotope fuel, shielding material, and selective emitter is designed from the viewpoint of radiation safety, thermal performance, and overall conversion efficiency by considering various shielding materials, fuel configurations, and packing factor (PF), defined as the ratio of fuel region volume to total heat source enclosure volume including fuel cladding and shield. The design study starts with a reference cubic configuration and extends to the more complicated configurations having separate cylindrical fuels. The results of the study showed that the heat source unit design suggested here can reduce the total radiation dose, peak neutron fluence, and maximum temperature using separate cylindrical fuel rods. For example, a design having a separated 3 × 3 cylindrical fuel rod array of 30% PF increases the overall efficiency by ~39% with similar maximum temperature and radiation doses in comparison with the reference heat source unit with a single cubic module and a 10% PF. This demonstrates the importance of the proper design of the RTPV heat source unit.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Design and performance analysis of a 500-W heat source for radioisotope thermophotovoltaic converters

2017

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Multi-dimensional optimization of In0.53Ga0.47As thermophotovoltaic cell using real coded genetic algorithm

Gamel

Ker

Lee

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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The optimization of thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cell efficiency is essential since it leads to a significant increase in the output power. Typically, the optimization of In0.53Ga0.47As TPV cell has been limited to single variable such as the emitter thickness, while the effects of the variation in other design variables are assumed to be negligible. The reported efficiencies of In0.53Ga0.47As TPV cell mostly remain < 15%. Therefore, this work develops a multi-variable or multi-dimensional optimization of In0.53Ga0.47As TPV cell using the real coded genetic algorithm (RCGA) at various radiation temperatures. RCGA was developed using Visual Basic and it was hybridized with Silvaco TCAD for the electrical characteristics simulation. Under radiation temperatures from 800 to 2000 K, the optimized In0.53Ga0.47As TPV cell efficiency increases by an average percentage of 11.86% (from 8.5 to 20.35%) as compared to the non-optimized structure. It was found that the incorporation of a thicker base layer with the back-barrier layers enhances the separation of charge carriers and increases the collection of photo-generated carriers near the band-edge, producing an optimum output power of 0.55 W/cm2 (cell efficiency of 22.06%, without antireflection coating) at 1400 K radiation spectrum. The results of this work demonstrate the great potential to generate electricity sustainably from industrial waste heat and the multi-dimensional optimization methodology can be adopted to optimize semiconductor devices, such as solar cell, TPV cell and photodetectors.

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Performance tuned radioisotope thermophotovoltaic space power system

Horne¹,

Morgan²,

Saban³

1998

AIP Conference Proceedings

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Design of RTPV generators integrated with new millennium spacecraft for outer solar system

Cited by 6 publications

References 10 publications

Design and performance analysis of a 500-W heat source for radioisotope thermophotovoltaic converters

Design and performance analysis of a 500-W heat source for radioisotope thermophotovoltaic converters

Multi-dimensional optimization of In0.53Ga0.47As thermophotovoltaic cell using real coded genetic algorithm

Performance tuned radioisotope thermophotovoltaic space power system

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