The Joint Accelerator Conferences Website (JACoW) is an international collaboration that publishes the proceedings of accelerator conferences held around the world.
TY - CONF AU - Cook, N.M. AU - Edelen, J.P. AU - Hall, C.C. AU - Vay, J.-L. ED - Koscielniak, Shane ED - Satogata, Todd ED - Schaa, Volker RW ED - Thomson, Jana TI - Self-Consistent Simulation and Optimization of Space-Charge Limited Thermionic Energy Converters J2 - Proc. of IPAC2018, Vancouver, BC, Canada, April 29-May 4, 2018 C1 - Vancouver, BC, Canada T2 - International Particle Accelerator Conference T3 - 9 LA - english AB - Thermionic energy converters (TEC) are an attractive technology for modular, efficient transfer of heat to electrical energy. The steady-state dynamics of a TEC are a function of the emission characteristics of the cathode and anode, an array of intra-gap electrodes and dielectric structures, and the self-consistent dynamics of the electrons in the gap. Proper modeling of these devices requires self-consistent simulation of the electron interactions in the gap. We present results from simulations of these devices using the particle-in-cell code Warp, developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. We consider the role of individual energy loss mechanisms in reducing device efficiency, including kinetic losses, radiative losses, and dielectric charging. We discuss the implementation of an external circuit model to provide realistic feedback. Lastly, we illustrate the potential to use nonlinear optimization to maximize the efficiency of these devices by examining grid transparency. PB - JACoW Publishing CP - Geneva, Switzerland SP - 543 EP - 545 KW - simulation KW - electron KW - space-charge KW - cathode KW - feedback DA - 2018/06 PY - 2018 SN - 978-3-95450-184-7 DO - 10.18429/JACoW-IPAC2018-MOPML060 UR - http://jacow.org/ipac2018/papers/mopml060.pdf ER -