CONTENTS
[INTRODUCTION] 1 [DIRECT VERSUS DYNAMIC ENERGY CONVERSION] 3 [LAWS GOVERNING ENERGY CONVERSION] 8 [THERMOELECTRICITY] 12 [THERMIONIC CONVERSION] 16 [MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC CONVERSION] 19 [CHEMICAL BATTERIES] 22 [THE FUEL CELL: A CONTINUOUSLY FUELED BATTERY] 24 [SOLAR CELLS] 26 [NUCLEAR BATTERIES] 28 [ADVANCED CONCEPTS] 30 [SUGGESTED REFERENCES] 33 [ANSWERS TO PROBLEMS] 34
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 64-61794
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
WILLIAM R. CORLISS is an atomic energy consultant and writer with 12 years of industrial experience including service as Director of Advanced Programs for the Martin Company’s Nuclear Division. Mr. Corliss has B.S. and M.S. Degrees in Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Colorado, respectively. He has taught at those two institutions and at the University of Wisconsin. He is the author of Propulsion Systems for Space Flight (McGraw-Hill 1960), Space Probes and Planetary Exploration (Van Nostrand 1965), Mysteries of the Universe (Crowell 1967), Scientific Satellites (GPO 1967), and coauthor of Radioisotopic Power Generation (Prentice-Hall 1964), as well as numerous articles and papers for technical journals and conferences. In this series he has written Neutron Activation Analysis, Power Reactors in Small Packages, SNAP—Nuclear Reactor Power in Space, Computers, Nuclear Propulsion for Space, Space Radiation, and was coauthor of Power from Radioisotopes.
INTRODUCTION
A flashlight battery supplies electricity without moving mechanical parts. It converts the chemical energy of its contents directly into electrical energy.
Early direct conversion devices such as Volta’s battery, developed in 1795, gave the scientists Ampere, Oersted, and Faraday their first experimental supplies of electricity. The lessons they learned about electrical energy and its intimate relation with magnetism spawned the mighty turboelectric energy converters—steam and hydroelectric turbines—which power modern civilization.
We have improved upon Volta’s batteries and have come to rely on them as portable, usually small, power sources, but only recently has the challenge of nuclear power and space exploration focused our attention on new methods of direct conversion.