Thermal Assessment of Dielectric Microspacer Technology Using an Advanced Three-Dimensional Simulation Model

Myrto Zeneli (), Alessandro Bellucci, Gianfranco Sabbatella, Maria Fotopoulou, Vasilis Apostolopoulos, Panagiotis Stamatopoulos, Daniele M. Trucchi, Aristeidis Nikolopoulos and Dimitrios Rakopoulos
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Myrto Zeneli: Chemical Process and Energy Resources Institute, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), 52 Egialias Str., Marousi, GR-15125 Athens, Greece
Alessandro Bellucci: Institute of Structure of Matter ISM-CNR—DiaTHEMA Lab, Via Salaria km 29.300, Monterotondo, 00015 Rome, Italy
Gianfranco Sabbatella: IONVAC—Ionvac Process Srl., Viale Anchise 24/25, Pomezia, 00040 Rome, Italy
Maria Fotopoulou: Chemical Process and Energy Resources Institute, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), 52 Egialias Str., Marousi, GR-15125 Athens, Greece
Vasilis Apostolopoulos: Chemical Process and Energy Resources Institute, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), 52 Egialias Str., Marousi, GR-15125 Athens, Greece
Panagiotis Stamatopoulos: Chemical Process and Energy Resources Institute, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), 52 Egialias Str., Marousi, GR-15125 Athens, Greece
Daniele M. Trucchi: Institute of Structure of Matter ISM-CNR—DiaTHEMA Lab, Via Salaria km 29.300, Monterotondo, 00015 Rome, Italy
Aristeidis Nikolopoulos: Chemical Process and Energy Resources Institute, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), 52 Egialias Str., Marousi, GR-15125 Athens, Greece
Dimitrios Rakopoulos: Chemical Process and Energy Resources Institute, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), 52 Egialias Str., Marousi, GR-15125 Athens, Greece

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: Dielectric microspacers (DMS) are a novel micro-technology that can be used to achieve a fixed micron/sub-micron gap distance between two separated surfaces, such as the emitter (cathode) and the PV cell (anode) of a near-field thermophotovoltaic converter (TPV). One of the system’s challenges is the flow of undesirable excess thermal energy from the cathode to the anode that might cause the PV cell to overheat. This work investigates the possibility of integrating this technology into a hybrid thermionic-photovoltaic (TIPV) converter operating at ultra-high temperatures (>1000 °C) without any risk of collector’s overheating, which might lead to its mechanical failure. A steady-state 3-D CFD model was developed in Fluent v17.1 solver to assess the system’s thermal behavior when the two electrodes were separated by a distance of 8–10 μm. The heat transfer through conduction across the system components and the net photon/electron flux between the two electrodes were simulated. Different cathode temperatures within the range of 1500–2500 K and various DMS shapes (capillary, cylindrical), patterns (e.g., ring-shaped) and sizes were studied. Results show that thermal performance is not affected by the DMS pattern, even for thermal conductivities of 80 W/(m·K), whereas the possibility of mechanical failure is considerable for T cathode > 2000 K.

Keywords: dielectric microspacers; 3D CFD analysis; thermal analysis; TIPV converter (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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