Open AccessProgress Toward High Power Output in Thermionic Energy Converters
Author(s) -
Campbell Matthew F.,
Celenza Thomas J.,
Schmitt Felix,
Schwede Jared W.,
Bargatin Igor
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
advanced science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.388
H-Index - 100
ISSN - 2198-3844
DOI - 10.1002/advs.202003812
Subject(s) - thermionic emission , converters , power (physics) , work (physics) , electricity , common emitter , electrical engineering , engineering physics , computer science , mechanical engineering , materials science , nuclear engineering , engineering , physics , thermodynamics , quantum mechanics , electron
Thermionic energy converters are solid‐state heat engines that have the potential to produce electricity with efficiencies of over 30% and area‐specific power densities of 100 Wcm −2 . Despite this prospect, no prototypes reported in the literature have achieved true efficiencies close to this target, and many of the most recent investigations report power densities on the order of mWcm −2 or less. These discrepancies stem in part from the low‐temperature (<1300 K) test conditions used to evaluate these devices, the large vacuum gap distances (25–100 µm) employed by these devices, and material challenges related to these devices' electrodes. This review will argue that, for feasible electrode work functions available today, efficient performance requires generating output power densities of >1 Wcm −2 and employing emitter temperatures of 1300 K or higher. With this result in mind, this review provides an overview of historical and current design architectures and comments on their capacity to realize the efficiency and power potential of thermionic energy converters. Also emphasized is the importance of using standardized efficiency metrics to report thermionic energy converter performance data.