Electrochemical energy conversion by-passes second law of thermodynamics

Sixteenth Annual Battery Conference on Applications and Advances. Proceedings of the Conference (Cat. No.01TH8533) Pub Date : 2001-01-09 DOI:10.1109/BCAA.2001.905132

H. Oman

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引用次数: 2

Abstract

New spacecraft will explore the outer regions of the solar system where sunlight is too weak for generating the required electric power. Europa, the orbiter of Jupiter's moon, will require 210 watts of power for its six years of post-launch lifetime. Low-power radioisotope-heated thermoelectric generators have powered 26 spacecraft on deep-space missions, but their efficiency is only around 6%. Developing a larger radioisotope general-purpose heat-source (GPHS) for the new missions is not feasible in today's social environment. One candidate for converting heat to electric power from the existing radioisotope heater is the alkali-metal-electrochemical (AMTEC) converter. With its heat source it would weigh 18 kg and deliver 210-watts with an efficiency of 21.6%. Lifetimes in test are now over 60000 hours. The alternative energy converter is the free-piston Stirling engine in which the pistons are precisely supported with flexing diaphragms so that pistons do not have any moving contact with cylinder surfaces. Maintenance-free operating lifetimes of 100000 hours have been demonstrated. A 210-watt Stirling-cycle converter and its GPHS would weigh 16.1 kg and have an efficiency of 26%. An interesting new approach could be a combined-cycle power source in which the Stirling engine is topped by an AMTEC converter.

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电化学能量转换绕过热力学第二定律

新的宇宙飞船将探索太阳系的外部区域，那里的阳光太弱，无法产生所需的电力。木卫二是木星卫星的轨道飞行器，在发射后的6年里，它将需要210瓦的电力。低功率放射性同位素加热热电发电机已经为26艘执行深空任务的航天器提供了动力，但它们的效率只有6%左右。在当今的社会环境下，为新任务开发更大的放射性同位素通用热源(GPHS)是不可行的。将现有放射性同位素加热器的热量转化为电能的一种候选方法是碱金属电化学(AMTEC)转换器。它的热源重18公斤，输出210瓦，效率为21.6%。测试寿命现在超过60000小时。替代能源转换器是自由活塞斯特林发动机，其中活塞由弯曲隔膜精确支撑，使活塞不与气缸表面有任何移动接触。已证明免维护运行寿命达100000小时。一个210瓦的斯特林循环转换器及其GPHS将重16.1千克，效率为26%。一个有趣的新方法可能是一个联合循环动力源，其中斯特林发动机顶部安装一个AMTEC转换器。

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Sixteenth Annual Battery Conference on Applications and Advances. Proceedings of the Conference (Cat. No.01TH8533)

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