Venus Energy Converter

The primary goal is to demonstrate practical, functional power generation sources based on thermionic energy conversion (TEC) capable of operation at extreme temperature environments such as those found on the surface of Venus, propulsion systems and in Long-Lived In-Situ Solar System Explorer (LLISSE) missions. TEC provides an effective way of capturing the abundant source of heat energy found in environments such as Venus and LLISSE. TEC is analogous to solar/photovoltaic (PV) cells with temperature/heat being the energy source for TEC compared to light/optical being the energy source for PV. Unlike thermoelectrics which require and rely on a large temperature difference for operation, TEC can operate with a small or no temperature (isothermal) difference by judiciously using differences in thermionic work functions to convert temperature/heat to electrical energy. Recent advances in material science and nanotechnology as well as the understanding of the underlying physical processes form the basis for this proposed effort to develop Isothermal TECs. This Phase I effort focuses on identifying suitable materials for the creation of the extreme environment TECs and applying the use of integrated circuit, additive manufacturing, and Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) technology InnoSys has developed and is developing for, for example, extreme temperature transmitters for Venus to fabricate extreme temperature TECs. Small emitter to collector spacing and properly chosen emissive low work function cathodes and low emission collectors allow conversion of temperature/heat to relatively large electrical current densities at relatively high TEC conversion efficiencies with simple system integration of TECs. Extreme/harsh environment protective packaging will be used. Also, when coupled with sources of heat energy such as radioisotopes and integrated into General Purpose Heat Sources (GPHSs), TEC can be used for planetary and others missions including moon missions.