Operational testing and thermal modeling of a TOPAZ-II single cell thermionic fuel element test stand

Abstract

A TOPAZ-2 Thermionic Fuel Element (TFE) test stand is under study at the TOPAZ International Program. Extensive cross-sectional drawings of this system are presented along with detailed descriptions of its construction. A thermal analysis of the test stand is completed using a thermal resistance network method and data collected on the test stand. Critical resistances in the network include the 0.5 mm regulated helium gap, cooling water channel, and cesium interelectrode gap. The thermal analysis indicates that for an input power to the active zone of 3003 W, and a regulated helium gap pressure of 10 torr, the thermal conductivity of the regulated gap helium ranges from 0.0734). 087 W/mK. This is much less than the thermal