Combustion heated cold seal TEC [thermionic energy convertor]

This report discusses the concept of the combustion heated cold seal TEC (thermionic energy convertor). A cold seal TEC will be developed and tested, in which the rubber O-ring seal will electrically insulate the hot shell from the collector heat pipe. The cold seal TEC will use a noble gas+cesium as the working medium. In its cold state, the cesium will short circuit the emitter and the collector. During operation, the interelectrode space will be filled with cesium vapor. The upper part of the cold seal TEC will be filled with a noble gas. This noble gas will prevent the O-ring seal from being attacked by the cesium. The TEC output characteristics will be considerably improved by using electrode materials that were developed earlier in the course of an ECS-project for the development of low-temperature TEC electrodes.