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US 12,603,266 B2Granted
Device and method for high power-density thermionic energy conversion
AssigneeSpace Charge, LLC
InventorsJohn B. Read, Daniel C. Sweeney
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Thermionic generators are described herein that include a variety of features that allow the devices to efficiently and effectively convert large amounts of thermal energy directly to electrical energy, such as in the form of currents and/or voltages. For example, the thermionic generators can be used to generate an electron beam from a thermionic emission device, and focus or shape the electron beam in such a way that allows the energy of electrons in the electron beam to be captured and converted to electrical energy.
Claims20
A thermionic generator comprising:
- an evacuated envelope providing a vacuum drift space;
- an absorbing element for capturing radiant energy;
- an emitter coupled to the absorbing element for generating emitted electrons using energy from the absorbing element, the emitter arranged to direct the emitted electrons through the vacuum drift space;
- an electron shaping element arranged to focus the emitted electrons into an electron beam in the vacuum drift space;
- an anode element positioned to electromagnetically interact with the electron beam in the vacuum drift space;
- a transducer arranged to extract energy from the electron beam;
- and
- a collector arranged to receive the electron beam.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.