SURVIVE 60
Exploring Venus
Together
"Venus is the second planet from the Sun and is Earth's closest planetary neighbor. It's one of the four inner, terrestrial (or rocky) planets, and it's often called Earth's twin because it's similar in size and density. These are not identical twins, however – there are radical differences between the two worlds." (NASA)
457
C
92
Pa
TEMPERATURE
ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
8.87m/s
GRAVITY
2
ESS is a solid-state Energy Storage System, that uses the heat from the radioactive decay of plutonium-238, enclosed within a General Purpose Heat source module used for protection and containment, to generate heat that will be converted to electricity using a tungsten foil and multi-junction thermalphotovoltaic cells (TPVs).
E-BANK 238
OVERVIEW
WEIGHT 3 kg / 6.6 lb
MASS 0.3 kg / 0.6 lb
VOLUME 9.42 ×10^-6 m³ / 942 x 10^4 cm³
OPERATIONAL TEMP. 1742 F / 1223.15 K
HEIGHT 0.3 m / 0.9 ft
PLUTONIUM 238
E-BANK 238
TPV CELLS
E-BANK 238
Plutonium-238 (Pu 238) is a unique material, known as a radioisotope, that decays due to its instability by the emission of energy and particles. Pu 238 emits steady heat due to natural radioactive decay. The particles emitted include alpha particles, beta particles and gamma rays. As the Pu 238 decays, the emitted alpha particles interact with surrounding material, leading to heat generation.
Pu 238 possesses a high power density of 0.56W/h, half life of 88 years, shielding requirements low enough to be stopped by paper.
238Pu94 → 234U92 + 4He2
238Pu94 → 234U92 + α
Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells are like solar cells, except instead of absorbing light energy from the sun, they use a hot emitter surface.They convert thermal radiations from various heat sources such as: the combustion of fuels, industrial waste heat, and concentrated solar or nuclear energy into electricity. Multijunction TPV cells have multiple p–n junctions, made of different semiconductor materials, in which each junction produces electrical current in response to different wavelengths of light. The many junctions allow for the absorption of a broader spectrum of wavelengths, which enhances the cell’s absorption of photons to convert to electrical energy.
E-BANK 238
CONSIDERATIONS
An aero shell made of polymer-based aerogel is required to shield the inner components from the high pressure, temperature and toxic gases.
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To combat potential failure, 12 PV cells were installed to ensure that the energy needs are catered for even when half of the cells fail due to high internal temperatures caused by decay of the radioisotope.
In case outer aerogel aeroshell cracks, the internal layer MLI of low thermal conductivity and iridium will maintain the internal thermal conditions by protecting the internal components from the high temperatures, pressure and corrosion.
THE MAKING
The E-Bank 238 is a potential solution to the world’s current energy needs. It draws from Plutonium-238 which has good power density and a long half-life, to provide useful power output over a long lifespan. We developed this solid-state energy storage system that converts heat to electricity, via a tungsten foil and TPV cell developed by MIT researchers.