BASIC PHENOMENA IN THERMIONIC ENERGY CONVERTERS.
Abstract
The report is a summary of the study of a few phenomena related to the physics of thermionic energy converters as well as the investigation of the processes responsible for the high efficiency of the hollow-cathode discharge. Machine computations of the transport of charged particles under the influence of both electric fields and density gradients, while allowing for a changing particle energy, revealed the possibility of ionization of neutral particles by electrons having traversed a voltage difference smaller than the ionization potential of the neutral particles involved. The theoretical results obtained are compared with experimental data. A systematic study of the currentvoltage characteristics of a plane and hollow-cathode discharge led to a considerably better insight in the significance and magnitude of the hollow-cathode discharge mechanism. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1964
- Accession Number
- AD0612471
Entities
People
- Hendrik J. Oskam
Organizations
- University of Minnesota