A burgeoning need exists today for small, compact, reliable, lightweight and self-contained rugged power supplies to provide electrical power in such applications as electric automobiles, homes, industrial, agricultural,recreational, remote monitoring systems, spacecraft and deep-sea probes.Radar, advanced communications satellites and, especially, high-technology weapons platforms will require much larger power sources than today's space power systems can deliver. For the very high power applications, nuclear reactors appear to be the answer. However, for the intermediate power range,10 to 100 kilowatts (KW), the nuclear reactor presents formidable technical problems.Because of the short and unpredictable lifespan of chemical batteries,however, regular replacements would be required to keep these devices humming. Also, enough chemical fuel to provide 100 KW for any significant period of time would be too heavy and bulky for practical use. Fuel cells and solar cells require little maintenance, but the former are too expensive for such modest, low-power applications, and the latter need plenty of sun.Thus the demand to exploit the radioactive energy has become inevitable high.
Several methods have been developed for conversion of radioactive energy released during the decay of natural radioactive elements into electrical energy. A grapefruit-sized radioisotope thermo-electric generator that utilized the heat produced from alpha particles emitted as plutonium-238 decays was developed during the early 1950's.Since then the nuclear power has taken a significant consideration in the energy source of future. Also, with the advancement of the technology the requirement for lasting energy sources has been increased to a great extent. The solution to the long term energy source is, of course, the nuclear batteries with a lifespan measured in decades and has the potential to be nearly 200 times more efficient than the currently used ordinary batteries.
These incredibly long-lasting batteries are still in the theoretical and developmental stage of existence, but they promise to provide clean, safe, almost endless energy.Unlike conventional nuclear power generating devices, these power cells does not rely on a nuclear reaction or chemical process and does not produce radioactive waste products. The nuclear battery technology is geared toward applications where power is needed in inaccessible places or under extreme conditions.
?The NAG represents a new form of nuclear power conversion technology. It represents a smaller, safer and far more efficient than any conventional nuclear power generator now in existence. It can be used for virtually any power application from large to small hand devices. The other atomic batteries present in the market have not been able to achieve the efficiency or size reduction inherent in the NAG design. Atomic batteries possess isotope which is by far the most costly component. The unique design of the NAG allows it to use less isotopic fuel than any other atomic battery to produce the required power. It is alleged by Executive engineering that recent innovations in both materials and technology have made such devices feasible to generate both exceedingly large and exceptionally small amounts of electrical power and do it more efficiently ,with fewer breakdowns than conventional technologies now being utilised.
?Currently, MEMS laboratory is utilising the advanced techniques necessary for the fabrication of NAG devices.The researchers envision its uses in pacemakers and other medical devices that would otherwise require surgery to repair or replace. Additionally,deep-space probes and deep-sea sensors, which are beyond the reach of repair,would benefit from such technology. In the near future this technology is said to make its way into commonly used day to day products like mobile and laptops and even the smallest of the devices used at home. Surely these are the batteries of the near future.
Download your Full Reports for Nuclear Batteries
Advertisement