Collaborative Research: Exploration of Near-Field Thermophotovoltaic Energy Conversion for Efficient Thermal Energy Recycling

合作研究：探索近场热光伏能量转换以实现高效热能回收

• 批准号: 1236052
• 负责人: Sung Cho
• 金额: $ 15万
• 依托单位: University of Pittsburgh
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-09-01 至 2016-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1236052&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Exploration; Near; Field

CBET-1236239/1236052PIs: Park/Cho A thermophotovoltaic (TPV) system is a promising energy conversion device that generates the electric power from the infrared thermal radiation. However, its low power throughput and poor conversion efficiency restricts the usage in practical applications. One solution for resolving these issues is to utilize near-field thermal radiation, which can exceed the blackbody thermal radiation by several orders of magnitude. However, due to difficulties in maintaining the parallel nanoscale gap between the emitter and the receiver, experimental investigations of near-field thermal radiation have been limited to simple spherical or point-like emitter geometries. This proposal thus aims to experimentally investigate near-field thermal radiation between planar structures within a submicron vacuum gap and its contribution to the near-field TPV energy conversion. The innovative aspects of the proposed research are (1) to microfabricate a suspended thermal emitter (heater) to achieve a uniform temperature and minimize conduction heat loss; (2) to vacuum-package the microheater with a diaphragm to allow thermal radiation as the only heat transfer mechanism between the heater and the diaphragm; and (3) to precisely control the vacuum gap between the heater and the diaphragm by changing the diaphragm curvature with the external pressure. This project will provide the quantitative measurement of the near-field radiative heat transfer between two parallel plates at vacuum gap distances of a few hundred nanometers. In addition, the advantage of near-field TPV energy conversion device will be systematically examined, which also will provide the measurements of the power throughput and conversion efficiency of the near-field TPV device. The theoretical aspect of this research will improve our fundamental understanding of near-field interactions between thermally emitted electromagnetic waves and nanostructures via surface plasmon resonance, scattering, diffraction, and photon localization. The success of the proposed research will enhance scientific and technological understanding of the nanoscale TPV energy conversion while promoting teaching, training, and learning. The PIs will put forth considerable efforts to involve graduate and undergraduate students, especially those from underrepresented group, in cutting-edge nanotechnology research. They will gain hands-on experiences in micro/nanofabrication, thermal and electrical characterization of micro/nanodevices, and near-field radiative heat transfer measurements. The outcome of the proposed research will be incorporated into courses, such as Micro/Nanoscale Energy Transport at URI, and disseminated to the public through Thermal-Fluids Central (http://www.thermalfluidscentral.org) and technical journals.

CBET-1236239/1236052PIS：PARK/CHO热光伏系统是一种很有前途的利用红外热辐射产生电能的能量转换装置。然而，其低功率吞吐量和较低的转换效率限制了其在实际应用中的使用。解决这些问题的一种解决方案是利用近场热辐射，它可以比黑体热辐射高出几个数量级。然而，由于难以保持发射体和接收体之间的平行纳米级间隙，近场热辐射的实验研究一直局限于简单的球形或点状发射体几何形状。因此，这一建议旨在实验研究亚微米真空间隙内平面结构之间的近场热辐射及其对近场TPV能量转换的贡献。这项研究的创新之处在于：(1)微细加工悬挂式热发射器(加热器)，以实现均匀的温度和最小的传导热损失；(2)用隔膜真空封装微加热器，使热辐射成为加热器和隔膜之间唯一的热传递机制；(3)通过改变隔膜曲率来精确控制加热器和隔膜之间的真空间隙。该项目将对真空间隙为几百纳米的两个平行板之间的近场辐射换热进行定量测量。此外，还将系统地研究近场TPV能量转换装置的优势，并对近场TPV装置的功率吞吐量和转换效率进行测量。这项研究的理论方面将通过表面等离子体共振、散射、衍射和光子局域化来加深我们对热发射电磁波与纳米结构之间近场相互作用的基本理解。拟议研究的成功将增进对纳米级TPV能量转换的科学和技术理解，同时促进教学、培训和学习。私人投资促进机构将作出相当大的努力，让研究生和本科生，特别是那些来自代表性不足的群体的学生，参与尖端纳米技术研究。他们将在微/纳米制造、微/纳米设备的热学和电学表征以及近场辐射换热测量方面获得实践经验。拟议的研究成果将被纳入课程，如URI的微纳尺度能量传输，并通过热流体中心(http://www.thermalfluidscentral.org))和技术期刊向公众传播。