Thrive - A Digital Computer Program for the Calculation of Thermionic Converter Performance Characteristics.
Abstract
This report documents THRIVE - a digital computer program for computing thermionic converter performance characteristics. THRIVE computes converter output voltage, efficiency and plasma property profiles from the converter operating point specified by the electrode temperatures, cesium reservoir temperature, interelectrode spacing and current density. The computation is performed by numerically integrating a set of plasma transport differential equations which describe a low energy, three component, two temperature plasma in one dimensional planar geometry. The transport equations recognize variable electron current, electron temperature, electron kinetic energy flux, ion current, charged particle density and electrostatic potential in the quasineutral plasma. Volume ionization-recombination processes and collisional phenomena are represented. A set of boundary conditions is employed which recognizes the electrostatic sheaths adjacent to the electrodes and is consistent with the transport equations. Schottky effects at the electrode surfaces are accounted for. The electrode surfaces are characterized by field free cesiated work functions which may be derived from experimental data. The THRIVE program has been used to generate theoretical thermionic converter current-voltage characteristics that show excellent agreement with experimental data. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1972
- Accession Number
- AD0903666
Entities
People
- R. J. Mccandless
Organizations
- General Electric