Published date:Oct 08 2018

Journal Title: KnE Engineering

Issue title: Breakthrough directions of scientific research at MEPhI: Development prospects within the Strategic Academic Units

Pages:274–280

DOI: 10.18502/keg.v3i6.3004

V V Fetisovvvfetisov@mephi.ru

O S Vasilyev

P V Borisyuk

Yu Yu Lebedinskii

The article considers the construction of a miniature radioisotope power unit based on thermoelectric conversion of thermal energy released during nuclear decay. It is proposed to use thin fluoropolymer films (membranes) as a dielectric heat-insulating material. The results of numerical simulation of a prototype of a miniature radioisotope thermoelectric battery unit based on the thorium-228 isotope in the ANSYS program are presented. The geometry of the system has been optimized. It was established that the temperature of the source can reach about 1033 K, and the efficiency of the considered battery unit can reach 16.8%, which corresponds to modern power supplies of this type.

[1] Kim, K., Guo, J., Xu, X., et al. (2015). Micromotors with step-motor characteristics by controlled magnetic interactions among assembled components. ACS Nano, vol. 9, pp. 548–554.


[2] Holmberg, S., Perebikovsky, A., Kulinsky, L., et al. (2014). 3-D micro and nano technologies for improvements in electrochemical power devices. Micromachines, vol. 5, pp. 171–203.


[3] Lal, A. and Blanchard, J. (2004). Daintiest dynamos [nuclear microbatteries]. IEEE Spectrum, vol. 41, pp. 36–41.


[4] Prelas, M. A., Weaver, C. L., Watermann, M. L., et al. (2014). A review of nuclear batteries. Progress in Nuclear Energy, vol. 75, pp. 117–148.


[5] Borisyuk, P. V., Vasilyev, O. S., Krasavin, A. V., et al. (2016). Nanocluster metal films as thermoelectric material for radioisotope mini battery unit. Chemical Physics, vol. 478, pp. 2–7.


[6] Ziman, J. M. (1961). The ordinary transport properties of the noble metals. Advances in Physics, vol. 10, pp. 1–56.


[7] Macia-Barber, E. (2015). Thermoelectric Materials Advances and Applications. Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis Group.


[8] Gayner, C. and Kar, K. (2016). Recent advances in thermoelectric materials. Progress in Materials Science, vol. 83, pp. 330–82.