Design and performance of the equivalent general purpose heat source in radioisotope thermophotovoltaic system

Radioisotope thermophotovoltaic system can provide a reliable long-term energy supply for future deep space exploration. Considering the security and convenience in the research, an electric heating source based on SiC has been designed to meet the equivalent testing. Through finite element simulation analysis, the equivalent heat source was designed to have a high temperature similarity with general purpose heat source, while also exhibiting good mechanical properties. The system experiment tests confirm that under the input power of 250 W, the temperature of the equivalent heat source can reach to 1188 degrees C, and maintain stability in multiple tests, which show good consistency with the simulation results. In this condition, using the GaSb cell, the output power of GaSb in radioisotope thermophotovoltaic system is increased from 0.3 mW at 600 degrees C to 70.3 mW at 1200 degrees C, an increase of 233.3 times, which indicates that the temperature of the heat source has a significant impact on the output of GaSb cells. The designed equivalent heat sources can be used for the research and system optimization of radioisotope thermophotovoltaic system. This study provides valuable insights for the construction and testing of future isotope power systems.