A review of cesium thermionic converters with developed emitter surfaces

Studies from US and Russian literature on experimental and theoretical investigations of thermionic converters with developed emitter surfaces are reviewed and analyzed. Experimental data for these converters is compared with that for close‐spaced and traditional Cs arc converters. The former is most advantageous at low temperatures from 1300 to 1700 K, with the power gain increasing as the emitter temperature decreases and/or its emission properties deteriorate. This power gain is attainable at a larger load voltage and at a significantly larger optimum interelectrode gap size than traditional converters. Additional experiments and mathematical modeling are needed to understand the physical processes taking place and assess the performance of thermionic converters with developed emitter surfaces, compared to traditional ones operating under identical conditions.