Isomer Energy System Design Concepts

Vogt, D

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

关键词: Decay;    Energy Sources;    Half-Life;    Energy Supplies;    Radioisotopes;   

DOI  :  10.2172/15004911
RP-ID  :  UCRL-ID-155561
RP-ID  :  W-7405-ENG-48
RP-ID  :  15004911

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

Isomer energy supplies offer the potential to increase the output power over time to accommodate varying power needs. Other materials with similar energy density (for example isotopic energy sources such as {sup 238}Pu) do not offer the potential to increase power with time. Often the design life of an energy source is significant when compared to the half-life of the isotope. As a result, the conventional isotopic energy supplies operate with significant excess power at start of life to meet the power needs at end-of-life. For example a {sup 238}Pu radioisotope energy supply with a 35-year design life must account for radioactive decay losses of about 25% of the plutonium present at the start of life. This decay loss is significant if the required output power from the device is constant with time. If the required power output from the device increases with time (such as some space applications), significant increases in power supply weight are required to meet design power requirements. Isomer energy supplies offer the potential to increase the output power over time to meet varying power needs, thereby offering a significant advantage over conventional systems. Isomer energy supplies also offer the possibility of being ''turned on'' based on need at a specific time. These characteristics offer distinct advantages to isomer energy supplies. This report examines the basic engineering characteristics of a hypothetical isomer energy supply in order to gain insight into properties of isomers that will make them potentially useful as energy sources in engineered systems. These isomer properties provide a basis for identification of candidate isomers and provide a basis for an isomer search.