Direct Energy Conversion Nano-hybrid Fuel
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1104-NN07-20
Direct Energy Conversion Nano-hybrid Fuel Liviu Popa-Simil R&D, LAVM LLC., Los Alamos, NM, 87544 Abstract Most of the exothermic nuclear reactions transfer the mass defect or binding and surplus energy into kinetic energy of the resulting particles. These particles are traveling through material lattices, interacting by ionization and nuclear collisions. Placing an assembly of conductiveinsulating layers in the path of such radiation, the ionization energy is transformed into charge accumulation by polarization. The result is a super-capacitor charged by the moving particles and discharged electrically. Another more promising solution is to use bi-material nanoparticles organized such as to act like a serial connection and add the voltage. A spherical symmetry fission products source coated in several nano-layers is desired for such structures. The system may operate as dry or liquid-immersed battery, removing the fission products from the fissile material. There is a tremendous advantage over the current heat flow based thermal stabilization system allowing a power density up to 1000 times higher. Introduction The idea as direct conversion it is not new, it has about the same age as the radiation detection approaches, and among the first were the ionization chamber and film emulsions. In radiation detection technology the efficiency of detection is about the same with efficiency of conversion for direct conversion devices and both have more than 60 years of history. In spite the huge diversity of these devices there are few constructive solutions, and several versions of each backed by several hundreds of patents. Brief on Direct Conversion History The interest in direct conversion of nuclear energy into electricity appeared in early 1940th [1]. In 1946 Linder invented a thermo-ionic fission device [2] that, is in fact a modified ionization chamber. In 1948 a differential ion chamber was invented [3], which improves the Linder’s chamber performances. A better connection of such assemblies was developed by 1953 [4] as a set of so called nuclear batteries. In 1955 [5] Wilson observed that in nuclear reactors a neutron fissionable isotope such as 233U, 235U, 239Pu or mixtures is releasing energies of the order of 200 MeV per fission. Of this energy perhaps 170 MeV represents kinetic energy, and about 30 MeV represents the energy of beta and gamma rays resulting from fission and fission products. The era of beta-voltaic batteries was initiated by this specific invention and that of Schwartz [6] that relates to nuclear batteries and more particularly to batteries utilizing fission products as well as neutron activated isotopes of a reasonable half-life which deliver negative beta-particles. By 1958 the era of semiconductor usage in energy harvesting begins by the Schuyler’s invention [7], who observed that in the previous arrangements only the primary charged particles are collected and the apparatus does not permit the use of neutral emission for voltage charging. By the 1970s the transistor era was at it
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