CONVENTIONAL AND PLASMA THERMOCOUPLES
Abstract
Existing theory on conventional thermocouples is summarized and revised. Utilizing the concepts and ideas of irreversible thermodynamics we are able to obtain the Seebeck, Peltier and Thomson coefficients by making use of the relations between the phenomenological coefficients. Since we are mainly interested in developing a general theory for a plasma thermocouple employing these methods we consider a simple case as an example of how one uses the techniques of irreversible thermodynamics. To this end we assume the collision term in the Boltzmann equation can be replaced by a relaxation type of phenomena. We then consider an electron gas in a solid conductor using Fermi Dirac statistics and a plasma using Maxwell Boltzmann statistics. With these simplified assumptions we obtain the usual expressions for he electrical and thermal conductivities. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 05, 1962
- Accession Number
- AD0287833
Entities
People
- Giovanni Lanza
- Jack Davis
Organizations
- Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories