System Performance and Optimization of Alkali Metal Thermal to Electric Convertor in Space Reactor System

With the continuous development of deep space exploration, as one of the most promising power source, space nuclear power systems have attracted wide attention from scholars at home and abroad. In the static thermoelectric conversion system, Alkali Metal Thermal to Electric Convertor (AMTEC) is a new kind of thermoelectric conversion technology with great development potential, but its actual efficiency is far below the theoretical level. The electrical characteristics model and efficiency model of the AMTEC is established to investigate the influence of the BASE thickness, current density, high temperature zone temperature and low temperature zone temperature on its performances such as efficiency and power density. Based on this, the appropriate parameters were selected to optimize the performance of the system.