A prototypic heat pipe system for an out-of-core thermionic reactor has been build and tested. The emitter of the concentric thermionic converter consists of the condenser of a tungsten heat pipe utilizing a lithium working fluid. The evaporator section of the emitter heat pipe is radiation heated to simulate the thermal input from the nuclear reactor. The emitter heat pipe thermal transport is matched to the thermionic converter input requirement. The collector heat pipe of niobium, 1 %-zirconium alloy uses potassium as the working fluid. The thermionic collector is coupled to the heat pipe by a tapered conical joint designed to minimize the temperature drop. The area ratio of the evaporator to condenser is 16/1, which increases the radiation area. The composite wick structure consists of seven arteries and cylindrical wraps. The collector heat flux matches the design requirements of the thermionic converter.
Lithium and potassium heat pipes for thermionic converters
Lithium- und Kaliumwaermerohre fuer thermionische Wandler
PROC. OF THE 13TH INTERSOC. ENERGY CONVERSION ENGNG. CONF. ; 2 , Aug ; 1035-1039
1978
5 Seiten, 11 Bilder, 5 Quellen
Conference paper
English
Thermionic Converters for ISUS
British Library Conference Proceedings | 1997
|Thermionic converters for space power
Engineering Index Backfile | 1963
|Development of thermionic converters Final report
NTRS | 1970
|PERFORMANCE OF LOW TEMPERATURE THERMIONIC CONVERTERS
AIAA | 1963
|Thermionic Converters for Ground Demonstration Testing
British Library Conference Proceedings | 1998
|