INVESTIGATION OF CYLINDRICAL TIC WITH CESIUM-OXYGEN FILLING AND WITH THE WORKING MEDIUM MIXTURE COMPOSITION CONTROLLED THROUGH THE USE OF ELECTROMAGNETIC FORCES

摘要

The paper presents results of investigation of cylindrical thermionic converters (TIC) with cesium and cesium-oxygen working medium units in which the electromagnetic method was used to control stoichiometric composition of the mixture supplied to the TIC interelectrode gap. The working medium unit design is described wherein ponderomotive forces are used to control the composition of the mixture. A comparison is made between the TIC electric output obtained in cesium vapor, in cesium and oxygen atmosphere with optimization of the mixture stoichiometric composition through the use of electromagnetic forces, and without the optimization. It is demonstrated that the employment of the electromagnetic control enables further increase in the maximum values of output electric power shown by TIC with cesium-oxygen filling. The possibility to use the proposed method for control of the mixture composition in cesium-barium TIC is demonstrated.