Nuclear Battery
Nuclear Battery
Nuclear Battery
FUEL CONSIDERATIONS
MAIN FUELS ADVANTAGES DRAWBACKS APPLICATIONS CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION
With the advancement in Technology, there exist a great need for small,
released during decay of natural radio active element into electrical energy.
A long-term energy source with life-span measured in decades & 200 times
conversion tech. MEMS lab is using adv. Tech. for the fabrication of NAG devices.
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS
Nuclear Battery was introduced in the beginning of 1950 and was patented
alpha & beta particles inherent in nuclear material was the key to Nuclear battery.
The amount of power generated from the electric charges & the kinetic
energy produced by successive collision of alpha & beta particles has been very small.
Brown invented an approach to organize these magnetic fields so that the
current.
Uses a Si wafer to capture electrons emitted by radioactive material & is coated
hole pairs which in turn flow in an electric circuit due to the VOLTAIC EFFECT.
radioisotope .
The Electrostatic force between radioisotope & the cantilever attracts the
electrostatic force is removed as a result cantilever retracts back to original position..This cycle repeats.
The cantilever acts as a charge integrator allowing energy to be stored &
FUEL CONSIDERATIONS
Major criteria considered in the selection of fuels are:
Half-Life
Period of time it takes for the amount of substance undergoing decay to decrease by half..
Particle Range
Charged particle ionize & lose energy in many steps until energy is almost zero, the distance to this point I called Range of Particle.
MAIN FUELS
Nickel-63 (Ni-63) Strontium-90 (Sr-90) Promitium-147 (Pm-147) Uranium-238 (U-238) Tin-121 (Sn-121) Uranium-235 (U-235) Tantalum-180m
ADVANTAGES
Fuel Source:
Radioactive isotopes which are being produced as a part of radioactive waste are used as fuel. Can withstand more than 400 yrs. No meltdowns, no danger of explosions & other catastrophic incidents.
Oil Dependency:
A large percent of foreign dependence could be eliminated if use device such as NAG more widely, which in turn will decrease the price of oil & gas.
Safety:
NAG needs no large scale containment or special shielding. No ext. emissions & produces no contaminated steam that can leak. No nuclear waste. Also Radioisotopes that power NAG do not need to be cooled. 1 Gm of Sr-90 can produce 10,000 watts of power & heat.
Adaptability:
NAG is Adaptable to widely differing applications, both in civilian & military. Able to handle tasks for large metropolitan & rural areas alike. Tanks fitted with NAG could run for years without any interruption. Civilian needs include disaster relief activities.
Cost/Efficiency:
Cost of fuel is considerably less as the radioactive isotopes are present abundantly.
Power Output:
NAG Technology could produce power 30-50 times more than conventional nuclear technology.
Radiological Damage:
It is very safe. Device is self contained with little or no X-rays. Beta particles are never emitted outside the casing of device. Special shielding is added for the Gamma rays.
DRAWBACKS
The initial cost of production is very high. Price will drop as product goes
operational.
For certain specific applications, size of nuclear battery may cause problem. The existing laws may come as a blow for usage & disposal of radioactive
materials.
Nuclear energy began to lose its status following a series of major accidents
APPLICATIONS
Space Applications: when satellite pass through radiation belts such as Van-Allen belts around the earth there is chance for the destruction of solar cells. Operations on moon & mars require heavy batteries where long periods of darkness . In opaque atmosphere such as venus lack of light. Medical Applications: Due to increased longevity n better reliability it is used in medical devices such as pacemakers, implanted defibrillators etc. In cardiac pacemakers. Mobile Devices: Xcell-N nuclear powered laptop battery that provide 7-8 thousand times the life of a normal battery. Xcell is in continous work for the last 8 months and has not been turned off.
Automobiles: Initial stages of development. Hopefully soon the conventional fuels will be replaced from the automobiles by Nuclear battery. Fox Valley Electric Auto Association already conducted seminars on its scope. Military Applications:
Nuclear Battery is a very beneficial resource for Army as it is much lighter compared to other chemical batteries and will last longer. The source is well suited to active RF equipments, sensors n ultra wide band commn chips. Under Water Sea Probes & Sea Sensors: Use of sensors that works for a long time is used to detect any natural calamities such as earthquakes n Tsunami. Thus the underwater sea probes & sea sensors makes use of Nuclear Battery for their functioning.
CONCLUSION
As the Technology grows need for power also grows. Also we dont have much abundant fuels present in the earths crust to meet this need. Thus the use of power as heat & electricity from the radioisotopes can be used to meet this need which has high longevity.
REFERENCE
Power from Radioisotopes USAEC, Division of Technical
Information. Nuclear and Radiochemistry , Gerhart Friedlandler, Joseph .W. Kennedy. The Half-life of a Nuclear Battery , Philip. H. Talbert. Particles and Nuclei, An Introduction to the Physical Concepts , B. Povh, K. Rith, C. Scholz and F. Zetche.
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