Modeling a thermionic energy converter
A. Minnich (UCB-CES)

Thermionic Energy Converters (TECs) are energy conversion devices
capable of converting heat directly to electricity. Electrons are
thermionically emitted from a hot surface and collected at a cooler
surface, forming a current that can be used to perform electrical
work. Because of their ability to work at high temperatures, they have
a Carnot efficiency approaching 90%. The efficiency in practice is
much lower, however, due to the formation of a virtual cathode at high
current densities. We will introduce a possible solution to this
problem developed by Moyzes and Geballes. Ongoing efforts to model the
TEC using XPDP1 and XOOPIC, along with current results, will also be
presented.