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dc.contributor.authorPrelas, Mark Antonio, 1953-eng
dc.contributor.corporatenameUniversity of Missouri (System)eng
dc.contributor.meetingnameMissouri Energy Summit (2009 : University of Missouri--Columbia)eng
dc.date.issued2009-04eng
dc.descriptionTrack I: Power Generationeng
dc.descriptionIncludes audio file (21 min.)eng
dc.description.abstractDirect conversion of nuclear energy to electricity has been a challenging problem since the inception of the generation of electricity from nuclear reactions. The development of wide bandgap, p-n junctions in materials such as diamond, gallium nitride, aluminum nitride, and silicon carbide is at the heart of this research. A p-n junction in materials with band-gaps greater than 3 eV can be used in nuclear energy conversion in multiple ways. For example, for direct conversion of the kinetic energy of particles from the decay of radioisotopes, a diamond p-n junction has some unique advantages. It is less susceptible to radiation damage than SiC, GaN, and AlN because, at high temperatures, it can self-anneal point defects caused by radiation damage. A method which eliminates the radiation damage problem is a Two-Step Photon Intermediate Direct Energy Conversion (PIDEC) method that uses the efficient generation of photons from the interaction of particulate radiation with fluorescer media. The photons are then transported to wide band-gap photovoltaic cells where electrical current is generated. PIDEC holds the promise of 40% energy conversion efficiency in a single cycle. PIDEC can be applied both to large power generation systems and to small scale nuclear batteries based on radioisotopes (Radioisotope Energy Conversion System-RECS). Students and faculty have built a test stand for the PIDEC and RECS concepts which tests the physics of fluorescence production from the interaction of radiation with various fluorescer media, the transport of photons, radiation shielding methods, photovoltaic conversion with wide band-gap photovoltaic cells, and conversion efficiencies. The technology is licensed to a Missouri company (US Semiconductor, Independence MO) and is helping to facilitate economic development in the State of Missouri.eng
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10355/769eng
dc.languageEnglisheng
dc.relation.ispartofPresentations (Missouri Energy Summit 2009)eng
dc.relation.ispartofcommunityUniversity of Missouri System. Missouri Summits. Missouri Energy Summit 2009eng
dc.rightsOpenAccess.eng
dc.rights.licenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License.eng
dc.subjectp-n junctioneng
dc.subjectPhoton Intermediate Direct Energy Conversion (PIDEC)eng
dc.subjectnuclear batterieseng
dc.subjectRadioisotope Energy Conversion System (RECS)eng
dc.subject.lcshNuclear reactor kineticseng
dc.subject.lcshNuclear engineeringeng
dc.titleA Research Program Nuclear Energy Conversioneng
dc.typePresentationeng


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