Thermionic Power Generation in Hypersonic Vehicles

Efficient thermal-to-electric conversion of the excess heat energy on a hypersonic vehicle to provide electrical power to onboard systems and eliminate high-temperature damages is an attractive prospect for USAF and DoD applications. Conventional thermal energy generation devices (TEG, T<1000 K) cannot survive in extreme high temperature condition during hypersonic flight (1400–2200 K, Mach 5–12). Additionally, TEG has low conversion efficiency of 5–8%. The Spectral Energies and UT team will mature and miniature a previous developed Plasma Thermionic Energy Converter (PTEC) for the desired AF applications and will deliver this technology to Air Force stakeholders. The PTEC is based on thermionic energy conversion, which can directly convert heat into electricity by the mechanism of thermionic emission without need of intermediate mechanical conversion. The PTEC device is capable of operating at temperature up to 2200 K for ~ 30 mins or longer with conversion efficiency up to ~ 20% and easy to scale up for large object applications. Our device also have broad commercial and military applications for aircrafts, automobiles, and industries.