Patent ID: 6204442
Filing Date: 2001-03-20
Classification: H02S,Y02E

Abstract:
A thermophotovoltaic generator, comprising:a burner including a combustion chamber and a premixing chamber;a delivery unit supplying an air-fuel mixture to the premixing chamber of the burner;a porous solid body situated in the combustion chamber and having a surface which is excited to a state of radiation by the air-fuel mixture, the porous solid body closing the premixing chamber from the combustion chamber and an external environment;a photocell situated opposite to the porous solid body and upstream from the porous solid body in the premixing chamber, the air-fuel mixture being combusted at the surface of the solid body so that the radiation strikes the photocell to generate electrical energy;an exhaust pipe discharging hot combustion gases from the combustion chamber;a reflector situated downstream from the porous solid body and opposite the porous solid body outside of the premixing chamber, the reflector reflecting the radiation to the photocell in a direction which is opposite from a flow of the hot combustion gases,wherein the delivery unit supplies the air-fuel mixture to the premixing chamber so that a non-combusted portion of the air-fuel mixture flows onto and around the photocell from a back portion thereof to cool the photocell.