Update of the design of the AMTEC converter for use in AMTEC Radioisotope Power Systems

Giglio, J. C.; Sievers, R.K.; Mussi, Edward F.

doi:10.1063/1.1358050

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The cell wall facing the BASE tubes should be thicker ($200 mm thick) than the cell wall above the BASE tubes ($100 mm thick) to reduce the parasitic heat losses from the BASE tubes to the side wall [85]. The electrode materials changed from early used TiN with a typical charge exchange current B [20,84,89]. Coat with a high-reflectivity material, such as rhodium (e 5 0.05-0.07) on the artery, the internal circumferential heat shield, and the cell wall above the BASE to reduce parasitic heat losses, increase the cell peak conversion efficiency by 2.1% [84].…”

Section: The Efficiency Enhancement Of Vapor-fed Vapor Anode Multi-mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The materials for the cell's cold structure has updated from stainless steel-316(SS-316) to haynes-25 super steel alloy (17-20% Cr, 10-14% Ni, and 1.5-2% Mn), and then niobium alloy C-103 (0.5% Zr), finally molybdenum-rhenium (Mo-41% Re) [20,85,[91][92][93]. The cell wall facing the BASE tubes should be thicker ($200 mm thick) than the cell wall above the BASE tubes ($100 mm thick) to reduce the parasitic heat losses from the BASE tubes to the side wall [85].…”

Section: The Efficiency Enhancement Of Vapor-fed Vapor Anode Multi-mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To achieve a higher voltage output for terrestrial applications, vapor-fed, liquid anode AMTECs with sodium or potassium as working fluids have been proposed [17][18][19][20]. Figure 3 presents a schematic of a currently developed vapor-fed, liquid anode AMTEC, which operates at 400 V and total electric power output of 50 kW [17,18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A review on advances in alkali metal thermal to electric converters (AMTECs)

Xiao

Cao

2009

Int. J. Energy Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SUMMARYThe alkali metal thermal to electric converter (AMTEC) is one of the most promising technologies for direct conversion of thermal energy to electricity and has been receiving attention in the field of energy conversion and utilization in the past several decades. This paper aims to present a comprehensive review of the state of the art in the research and development of the AMTEC, including its working principles and types, historical development and applications, analytical models, working fluids, electrode materials, as well as the performance and efficiency improvement. The current two major problems encountered by the AMTEC, the time-dependent power degradation and relatively low efficiency compared to its theoretical value, are discussed in depth. In addition, a brief comparison of the AMTEC with other direct thermal to electric converters (DTECs), such as the thermoelectrics converter (TEC), thermionics converter, and thermophotovoltaics converter, is given, and combinations of different DTECs to further improve DTECs' power generation and overall conversion efficiency are demonstrated. Future research and development directions and the issues that need to be further investigated are also suggested. It is believed that this comprehensive review will be beneficial to the design, simulation, analysis, performance assessment, and applications of various types of AMTECs.

show abstract

Section: The Efficiency Enhancement Of Vapor-fed Vapor Anode Multi-mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Efficiency Enhancement Of Vapor-fed Vapor Anode Multi-mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A review on advances in alkali metal thermal to electric converters (AMTECs)

Xiao

Cao

2009

Int. J. Energy Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The development of the sodium AMTEC has been ongoing for more than a decade (Merrill et al 1998, El-Genk and Tournier 1998, Carlson et al 1999, Schock et al 1999, Giglio et al 2001. The first-generation sodium converters, known as the PX-series cells, used a stainless steel structure and TiN electrodes.…”

Section: Materials Selection For the Cathode Electrode And Lifetime Dmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Instead, the niobium alloys Nb-1Zr and C-103, and lately molybdenum-rhenium (Mo-Re) alloys were considered , El-Genk and , Giglio et al 2001, DiStefano and Chitwood 2001, Moore et al 2002. The niobium alloys were later excluded on the ground tha t they become brittle during assembly in glove boxes at oxygen concentration as low as one ppm .…”

Section: Materials Selection For the Porous Anodementioning

confidence: 99%

Novel, Integrated Reactor / Power Conversion System (LMR-AMTEC)

Rubiolo¹,

Investigator²

2003

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The main features of this project were the development of a long life (up to 10 years) Liquid Metal Reactor (LMR) and a static conversion subsystem comprising an Alkali Metal Thermal-to-Electric (AMTEC) topping cycle and a ThermoElectric (TE) Bottom cycle. Various coupling options of the LMR with the energy conversion subsystem were explored and, base in the performances found in this analysis, an Indirect Coupling (IC) between the LMR and the AMTEC/TE converters with Alkali Metal Boilers (AMB) was chosen as the reference design. The performance model of the fully integrated sodium-and potassium-AMTEC/TE converters shows that a combined conversion efficiency in excess of 30% could be achieved by the plant. [ This page intentionally blank ] 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe overall objectives of this project were to assess the feasibility, develop a conceptual plant layout and engineering solutions, and determine a range of potential applications for a Novel Integrated Reactor/Energy Conversion System. The goal was to design a proliferation resistant, reliable and economical power supply for use by developing countries and in remote locations. The main features of this project were the development of a long life (up to 10 years) Liquid Metal Reactor (LMR) and a static conversion subsystem comprising an Alkali Metal Thermal-to-Electric (AMTEC) topping cycle and a ThermoElectric (TE) Bottom cycle. Furthermore, various coupling options of the LMR with the energy conversion subsystem were explored.The project was performed by the Westinghouse Electric Company LLC (WEC), which was responsible for the long-life sodium reactor development, the University of New Mexico's Institute for Space and Nuclear Power Studies (UNM-ISNPS), which was responsible for developing the AMTEC/TE energy conversion system and designing the electric converter modules, and the Institute for Engineering Research and Applications (IERA) at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, which was responsible for supporting Westinghouse's activities related t o the transport safety and waste disposal.The work performed by Westinghouse Electric Company LLC on the reactor design and coupling with the conversion modules included three major areas:1-Selection of the reference LMR-AMTEC design concept Different design options were evaluated using a plant model. An Indirect Coupling (IC) plant with Alkali Metal Boilers (AMB) (see Figure 1) was chosen as the reference design as it exhibited the best performance. The main features of the design are:• IC between the LMR and the AMTEC units: two independent loops are employed.• Sodium and potassium are used as primary and secondary coolants, respectively.• The net plant efficiency is 28.2% when the core outlet temperature is 1070 K.• The LMR core is composed of 78 fuel elements and 78 reflector elements. The fuel is (U,Pu)N and the cladding is made of the refractory alloy Nb-1Zr.• The AMBs generate the potassium vapor, which is fed into the AMTEC units. TheAMBs can operate in once-through or in recirculat...

show abstract

Optimization of vapor anode multi-tube alkali metal thermoelectric converter based on an integrated model

Zhu

Jiang

et al. 2020

Applied Energy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Update of the design of the AMTEC converter for use in AMTEC Radioisotope Power Systems

Cited by 13 publications

References 0 publications

A review on advances in alkali metal thermal to electric converters (AMTECs)

A review on advances in alkali metal thermal to electric converters (AMTECs)

Novel, Integrated Reactor / Power Conversion System (LMR-AMTEC)

Optimization of vapor anode multi-tube alkali metal thermoelectric converter based on an integrated model

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About